


Don't Let Go

by thepudz



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, F/F, F/M, Fights, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Healing, Kissing, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Romance, Self-Hatred, Slow Build, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 65,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26666704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepudz/pseuds/thepudz
Summary: A world without Horde Prime, and yet the scars still remain. Catra is left behind with the trauma of it all, and Glimmer must come to terms with the passing of her mother. But they know they aren't alone, as Catra has Adora, and Glimmer has Bow. The two pairs share a bond like no other.However, they soon notice that people they had presumed to be dead are beginning to return to them under unknown circumstances. Along with confronting those they thought they had lost, Catra is suddenly met with a piece of her past. Through it all, the two pairs must confront their past and future, and perhaps they can grow closer than ever before...
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 101
Kudos: 170





	1. Beginning in Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again all!
> 
> I wasn't planning to post this for another few weeks... But I got a bit too excited. This fandom is simply too wonderful and you all inspire me to write what I love! 
> 
> This story will be a bit different from Droplets, as it's actually set in the canon universe and deals with a few different themes. This story will also feature an OC, and although they won't be the main focus of the story (My focus is still on the lovely Catra/Adora and Bow/Glimmer content!), they'll still play a large role in it. I hope they appeal to you just as much as they appeal to me!
> 
> It's a big change in tone and setting, and I feel like I'm taking a few risks here in writing a story so different from my last, but I'm hoping I'll still be able to deliver for y'all. This is a story I've really been wanting to write for a while, so I hope you all will like it too! 
> 
> Without further ado, let us begin another journey.

The cardboard box weighed heavy in her hands as the young girl snuck her way into the Fright Zone.

Horde soldiers patrolled the area, as well as a vast number of bots. The young girl hid behind a wall, trying to calm her breath as a small number of soldiers walked away from her. She knew she couldn’t be caught, or she’d likely be taken down within a few seconds.

The young girl used her size and the night sky to her advantage, ducking between crates and walls as the cold wind blew against her skin. She kept both arms wrapped around the box, clinging to it with a tight grip. This box was more precious than anything, even her very own life.

She saw a door up ahead. It was as good a place as any to put down the package. She stepped towards the door, but overstepped and tripped slightly, causing her to gasp. She hid behind a wall as a nearby patrol bot stopped in its tracks and headed in her direction after hearing her trip.

She didn’t mean to gasp, but now she needed to be dead quiet. The young girl held her breath as the bot checked the area where she made a noise. It scanned the walls, the floor, and the corners. The young girl held the box close to her chest, and her heart pounded faster than anything.

However, after a few seconds of scanning, the bot went back to its patrol and left the young girl along. She was still overcome with adrenaline, and so, she made a break for the nearby door. She had no idea where this door led to, but she hoped it was somewhere safe. She looked over her shoulder for any more soldiers, and slowly, she took a breath.

The young girl placed the cardboard box at the foot of the door. She hesitated to release it, and she instinctively went for the lid of the box just to check the contents. However, she quickly stopped herself, grabbing her own wrist. “No…” She spoke to herself. “You’ll just change your mind.”

The young girl looked down at the box and felt her eyes begin to well up with tears. She stroked her hand over the box, her breath coming out in shudders. “I’m so sorry… But this is for the best. I promise, I’ll save you one day,” the girl said, “I’ll be your superhero.”

She had to wipe away her tears and choke her breath back as she stood up, scanning left and right one more time before raising a fist to the door and knocking three times. She quickly took a step away from the box after knocking and looked at it one last time. She felt like she was locked in place, and she had to break herself free. There was no other choice.

She quickly ran away, leaving the box behind as she snuck away from the Fright Zone.

A chilly wind blew on the box as the door opened. A small girl had pushed the door open. Her dark blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue. “Hello…?” The small girl spoke, looking around for whoever knocked on the door.

However, she instead found a lone cardboard box on the floor. The young girl stared at the box for a few seconds.

“Adora? What are you doing up so late?” A voice suddenly sounded, scaring the young girl as she turned around.

“Sorry, Shadow Weaver,” the girl whose name was Adora spoke. Adora pointed to the box. “But look what I found! A box!”

Shadow Weaver, the tall, threatening presence who hid her face behind a mask and who always carried a sense of dread, looked at the box, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t open it, Adora. It might be a trap.”

As Shadow Weaver said that, a small sneeze suddenly sounded from the box. Adora gasped, and she ran for the box, ignoring Shadow Weaver’s protests. “Adora, wait!” Shadow Weaver cried.

But soon enough, Adora had opened the lid of the box. Inside, there was another girl around her age. She was curled up in a fetal position, and she was slowly awakening from a long nap. Her eyes were different colors, her left was yellow and her right was turquoise. She also had long, bushy hair, and most interesting of all, she supported a set of cat ears. The cat-looking girl blinked at Adora.

“Get back from there!” Shadow Weaver yanked Adora back, but she soon saw what was inside the box as well. It was just another girl, clearly confused about her new location. Shadow Weaver reached down to pick the girl up, but as soon as her hand came near, the girl immediately started to wail, backing away from Shadow Weaver’s hand as she cried.

“She’s scared,” Adora observed, walking pass Shadow Weaver and towards the girl. As soon as the cat girl saw Adora, her sobs slowly ceased. “I won’t hurt you,” Adora smiled as she reached out both hands and took the girl’s hands in her own. The girl looked at Adora’s hands, and then into Adora’s eyes. “What’s your name?” Adora asked.

The girl studied Adora’s smile. She looked at Shadow Weaver again, and felt the same fright from before, instinctively backing away from Shadow Weaver and instead looking to Adora. Her hands felt soft, warm and gentle. Safe. Finally, the girl in the cardboard box responded.

“… Catra.”

* * *

Catra stood in a pool of darkness.

She looked around and only saw the void. Eternal nothingness. She ran a hand through her short hair, sighing as she stepped forward.

She had been in this place many times before. She was used to the loneliness. Even after everything that had happened, she still felt isolated in some aspects. Defeating Horde Prime didn’t fix everything. The scars were internal.

This darkness was her home away from home. She walked and knew that she would never reach a destination. Ultimately, she’d be ripped away from this darkness and brought back to the real world. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing.

Suddenly, she tripped. She fell to the ground, grunting as she looked at what tripped her.

A corpse. Shadow Weaver’s corpse. Her body lay still, her face bear and her eyes empty. Catra suddenly scattered away, her heart skipping a few beats. “What… what the…” Catra panted to herself. Why was Shadow Weaver’s body here? It had been completely obliterated.

Catra stood up and ran from Shadow Weaver’s body, but soon enough, Catra stopped as another corpse appeared before her suddenly. Horde Prime. He lay face down, and Catra’s mind raced. None of it made sense.

She spotted another figure in the distance. She couldn’t make out the figure, and slowly, she stepped forward to find an older woman, with purple skin and similar colored hair. “Angella…?” Catra spoke, but of course, the words fell on deaf ears. It was another corpse, this time of Glimmer’s mother.

Catra had never felt so confused before, and she didn’t want to know the answer. And so, she ran. She ran away from everything, towards more darkness, hoping to get away from the bodies.

She tripped over another one, but this time, Catra only stumbled, regaining her balance to turn around and see the body. This one had large pincers for hands, and Catra immediately knew who it was. Her eyes widened as she felt her breath sucked out of her lungs in one moment.

“Scorpia…? No, no, this… this isn’t real… you’re with Perfuma right now on a getaway, this… this doesn’t make sense…” Catra shook her head, but all she was met with was Scorpia’s lifeless eyes gazing right at her. As Catra backed away, she felt another body behind her. This time, Entrapta. Blood oozing from her mouth and onto her floor, her skin pale.

And then, it wouldn’t stop.

All around Catra, bodies began to appear. Lifeless corpses of Kyle, Lonnie, Rogelio, Bow, and Glimmer suddenly showing up around her, along with countless Horde soldiers. Blood spilt on the dark floor as Catra simply spun around, looking at each individual corpse and feeling the weight of each of their deaths.

“Stop… stop, stop, stop…” Catra put her hands over her ears as she looked at the blood gaping in Bow’s chest. The stab wound in Glimmer’s heart. Catra shut her eyes, panting and slowly beginning to sink even further into madness.

She refused to open her eyes. She refused to acknowledge anything around her, but she knew that the world kept going on even if she closed her eyes. She knew of the horrors that awaited her if she opened her eyes now, and so, she kept them shut. Catra blocked out the world.

But eventually, she felt her foot hit another body. And her heart stopped. It was a new body. One that had just appeared. Catra slowly opened her eyes and looked down.

It was Adora. She laid face down in a pool of her own blood.

“No…” Catra whispered. “No, no, no, no, no, NO!” Catra screamed as she sunk to her knees. She reached out a hand to hold Adora’s and felt that it was icy cold. Cara saw her tears hit Adora’s cold, dead hands as she grit her teeth. “Why…? Why, Adora…?” Catra choked at Adora’s dead body.

“Because of you,” Catra heard a voice behind her. She felt the tears stream and her heart weighed heavy in her chest, but despite all that, she turned around.

Behind Catra was herself. It was the Catra from many years ago, when her hair was long and her mind was lost. It was Catra from when she thought she hated Adora. “You hurt all of them,” the Catra clone spoke. “Now… suffer the consequences. Live with the burden of your sins.”

“SHUT UP!” The sobbing Catra attacked the clone, but soon enough, it disappeared. Catra was left all along with just the corpses, and the demons of her past.

“I’m sorry…” Catra sobbed as she sunk to the wet, cold floor and curled up into a ball. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Catra sobbed endlessly as she cried next to Adora’s body. She reached out a hand to hold Adora’s as she cried, and she opened her eyes to look into Adora’s empty pupils.

And when Catra looked up, she saw Adora looking right at her.

* * *

Catra awoke with a jump, her heart racing as she panted. She put a hand over her throat, trying to suck in air.

She looked around. She was in Adora’s bedroom at Bright Moon. It was night, and Adora laid in the bed next to her. Catra slowly ran a hand over Adora’s and felt the same warmth she was used to. Adora snored softly. She was alive.

It was another nightmare. Catra sunk her face into her hands, sighing deeply. “Not again…” She mumbled to herself. She was ashamed. She should be over this by now, and yet, the nightmares just wouldn’t stop.

Being careful not to wake Adora, Catra slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and rested them on the soft floor. She stood up quietly, and walked over to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes as she closed the door behind her.

She stood in the dark bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was short, thanks to the treatment Horde Prime had given her a few months ago. Her eyes were the same, though she had more bags under them than normal. She was an adult, and yet, she kept having nightmares like child.

She ran some cold water and splashed it on her face, trying to wipe clean the horrors she witnessed. All of the blood and the bodies… It was the first time she had dreamt about so much death. She had been in that dark place before, but usually, she was alone. Why was it different now?

“Catra…?” Catra heard Adora’s voice mumble from the bedroom. “You okay?”

“Dammit…” Catra sighed, before speaking. “Yeah. I’m in the bathroom. Sorry if I woke you.”

“It’s fine. Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

A few seconds passed before the door slowly opened and Adora stepped in. Catra looked at her through the mirror. Her blonde hair was loose and hung over her shoulders as she looked at Catra. “Was it another one?” Adora asked, and Catra softly nodded. “Catra… I’m sorry.”

“No. I should be apologizing. I keep… having these stupid nightmares when I should be over this by now. Horde Prime’s gone. There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore,” Catra scolded herself. Adora stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Catra from behind, resting her chin on Catra’s shoulder.

“Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean the scars have fully healed. What he did to you was… horrible. Everything we went through in that war… the memories don’t just go away in an instant. Healing takes time,” Adora whispered, holding Catra close. “I love you. I’m always here for you. Okay?”

Catra put a hand over Adora’s, holding her close. “I love you too…” Catra responded. “It’s just… I’ve made so many horrible decisions. I hurt you and… everyone else I’ve ever known. These scars are my fault. The pain is my fault.”

“You can’t blame yourself for everything, Catra. We understand what you were going through, and we’ve forgiven you. I understand how hard this all is… but you’re not alone anymore, okay?” Adora spoke with a genuine tone of affection. “Nothing is going to separate us again. If you have another nightmare, you can wake me. I don’t care how late it is. You are my top priority.”

“… Thanks, Adora,” Catra smiled, nuzzling her cheek against Adora’s. The two women turned to each other and shared a deep kiss. Adora put her hand over Catra’s cheek, and Catra put a hand over Adora’s. It was the most tremendous warmth, and it was exactly what they needed.

Their love and bond could stand any test, and the test of time would be their greatest challenge yet. But as long as they had each other, nothing really bad could happen.

* * *

Glimmer couldn’t sleep no matter what she did. So, she decided to take a small walk through Bright Moon.

Her long robe dragged behind her as she walked towards the throne room. She had been trying to sleep for the last few hours with no luck. This usually happened every now and then, and she knew that trying to fight it was a losing battle.

She walked to the outside path of Bright Moon, which led to the throne room. She was able to feel the fresh, cold wind hit her skin as she walked slowly, looking up to admire the stars. She was still getting used to just how gorgeous they were.

The throne room was empty. A small hall which led to the same seat that Queen Angella occupied for many years. And the seat that Glimmer had barely sat in.

She approached the throne, but she did not sit on it. Instead, she knelt before it, like she would if she were addressing her mother. It was like a barrier was set up around the throne, preventing false queens from overtaking it.

“I thought I’d find you here,” a voice sounded behind Glimmer. She didn’t even have to turn around.

“Hey, Bow,” Glimmer spoke as she looked at the throne before her. “Sorry. Did I wake you?” She asked.

“I was already up, but I heard your footsteps and I was wondering if something was going on,” Bow responded as he walked over to Glimmer, and slowly knelt down next to her. “Is everything okay, Glimmer? You’ve been coming here a lot recently.”

“Well, this is my throne room,” Glimmer responded. But soon enough, she let out a sigh. “Well, it’s meant to be anyway. It… still feels like I’m a kid who doesn’t deserve to be here. How can someone like me sit there and be proud of myself?”

Bow turned to face Glimmer. “I can’t really answer that for you. But… I can at least say that I think you’re a great queen. You make me so proud,” Bow smiled as he looked at the woman beside him. Glimmer returned the look.

“You really mean that?”

“Of course.”

“Even after how much I screwed everything up and nearly destroyed Etheria?” Glimmer asked, and Bow’s words caught in his throat. He was angry at her for a while after that, and that was something he couldn’t take back. Instead, he sighed.

“I know both of us can’t take back anything from that phase… but I can tell you, right now, I’m happy to have you with me. You make me smile and laugh and… you really brighten up my world. Yes, you’ve made a few mistakes. So have I. More than I can count. But we can’t just focus on those. I’m not about to ignore the Glimmer who saved her father and helped save the world,” Bow responded.

“And I’m about to ignore the Bow whose saved my life countless times. I appreciate everything you do for me,” Glimmer smiled. “But even still… I just can’t call myself queen. This seat was meant for my mother. I’ll… I’ll never be like her.”

Glimmer sighed as she looked at the floor, and Bow was unsure how to respond. Glimmer knew she had put him on the spot, and she felt a tinge of guilt shoot into her gut. Soon enough, she reached out a hand. “Can you… stay with me? Just for a bit… I need the company,” Glimmer asked.

Bow’s hand rested on Glimmer’s almost instantly, and their fingers intertwined as they knelt before a mighty throne. “I’ll always be here for you, Glimmer,” Bow spoke as they held hands.

And with those words, Glimmer felt a bit warmer.

* * *

Plumeria looked even more beautiful after Horde Prime had been defeated.

Perfuma was on a getaway with Scorpia after everything that had happened. In fact, most of the alliance were taking well earned breaks after the defeat of Horde Prime. Even still, Adora went on usual patrols through kingdoms just in case.

It always helped to have a partner, too. Which is why she always dragged Catra on her patrols.

Adora and Catra walked through the vast forests of Plumeria during the day, occasionally meeting a few people from Perfuma’s kingdom. These patrols usually consisted of sightseeing since there wasn’t much danger to be found. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Adora, I see something!” Catra suddenly cried out, jolting Adora. “Oh, wait, nevermind. It’s just another tree.”

“Catra…” Adora sighed. “I know you aren’t the biggest fan of patrols, but as a princess, it’s my duty to protect the kingdoms.”

“Then why bring me along?”

“Because you’re cute and I like the company. Come on, we just need to check out the Heart-Blossom and then we can head back home,” Adora waved Catra along. Catra groaned, but reluctantly went along with Adora.

“You know you owe me for this, right?” Catra said.

“Aww, do you not like hanging out with me? I’m hurt,” Adora moped sarcastically as Catra snickered.

“Yep, that’s exactly the reason I hate patrols. You’re just so insufferable,” Catra smirked as Adora chuckled.

“Well, how about this…” Adora thought for a few seconds. “Since I’m clearly so insufferable that you can barely stand to be near me… I’ll give you one of my special massages tonight, completely free. I have raving reviews, you know.”

“Reviews from who?” Catra asked.

“From… other people. You just have to trust me.”

“Does the massage come with a happy ending?”

“That depends on your attitude.”

“Ooh, so you’re teasing me already. I like it.”

The two women chuckled as they made their way towards the Heart-Blossom. “So…” Adora spoke up. “Did you get any sleep last night after you woke up suddenly?”

“Yeah… thankfully it was pretty peaceful after that nightmare,” Catra nodded. “I still feel like crap, though. You shouldn’t have to worry about me all the time.”

“Catra… I love you. Of course I’m going to worry. You matter so much to me. I’m just glad you were able to get some peaceful sleep at all last night. You need it,” Adora rubbed Catra’s shoulder with her hand as they finally arrived at the Heart-Blossom.

The giant tree surrounded the pink runestone. It looked as beautiful as ever, giving all of the surrounding plants and trees life and love. “Looks the same as usual to me,” Catra shrugged.

“Yeah… you’re probably right,” Adora responded as she inspected the Heart-Blossom tree for any damage. Catra did the same, roaming around the tree for a few minutes. Adora couldn’t help but admire just how gorgeous this runestone was. Perfuma must be proud of it.

Adora wondered what Perfuma was up to with her girlfriend, Scorpia. After being freed of her chip, Scorpia definitely needed to get away somewhere and clear her mind of things. It seemed like she and Perfuma really got along well. Adora smiled thinking about the two of them on a beach together.

“Uh, Adora? I found something! For real this time!” Catra called out. Adora rushed over to Catra to find her looking at a specific branch of the tree. “It looks like… carvings or something.”

Adora glanced at where Catra pointed and found the carvings. “Oh, that… Perfuma showed me this when I first came here. This is a carving made ages ago. It’s meant to represent She-Ra,” Adora explained. The carving showed She-Ra standing with her sword, towering over some beasts. “Apparently this is when She-Ra tamed the beasts of Beast Island with a single word.”

“So you’ve got your own carving on a Runestone tree now?” Catra asked.

“Oh, no. I think this is actually Mara. This carving has been here for years and she was the only other She-Ra I know of,” Adora explained. Upon speaking Mara’s name, Adora felt her heart drop slightly as her hand ran over the carving.

“She was the She-Ra before you, right?” Catra asked. Adora nodded.

“She went through so much needless suffering… All thanks to the First Ones. I wish I could somehow just… go back in time and save her. She didn’t deserve the pain the First Ones endured on her,” Adora spoke softly.

“I bet you two would get along. And saving her… that sounds exactly like something you’d do,” Catra replied. “I mean… you saved me after all,” Catra smiled.

Adora returned the smile for a few seconds, before looking back at the carving and sighing. “I’m sorry you had to die the way you did, Mara… I hope you and Light Hope are happy together,” Adora spoke to the carving, feeling a tinge of sadness strike at her.

Her feeling was interrupted as some bushes rustled behind Adora and Catra. “Hello? Who’s there?” Catra called out as she heard the bushes rustle. But upon being called out, the figure in the bushes immediately ran away. “Hey! Stop!”

“Someone was following us,” Adora observed. “Catra, stay here. They might’ve been trying to do something to the Runestone. I’ll signal you if I need help, alright?” Adora explained, and Catra nodded. The two women shared a quick kiss, before Adora gave chase to the figure.

It may have been just a normal resident of Plumeria. But whoever it was didn’t want to be seen, and they had followed Adora and Catra to the Runestone. At the very least, Adora needed an explanation. The behavior was unsettling.

“Hey! Stop right there! I promise I won’t hurt you if you just explain a few things!” Adora called out to the figure, and yet, they kept running away from her. Adora pushed branch after branch out of her path, mostly chasing the noise of someone’s footsteps. She could barely make out the figure amongst all the plants.

Suddenly, Adora came across a clearing. The remnants of a small town that had been destroyed in Horde Prime’s invasion, the buildings now overgrown with plants and vines. Adora looked around for whoever she had been chasing, but she couldn’t see anyone.

She walked slowly through the abandoned town. “Is anyone out there? If you are a resident of Plumeria, I promise, I won’t hurt you! I just need to understand why you were following me and my partner!” Adora called out, trying to calm down the figure.

All of a sudden, Adora felt a weight crash down on her side, sending her flying into a nearby building as she cried out. She stumbled, rolling against the ground before eventually recovering from the heavy hit. Someone had attacked her, and she looked up to see…

“H… Horde Prime?!” Adora’s eyes widened as she looked at the figure who had haunted her nightmares for the last few weeks.

She thought she was hallucinating for a few seconds, but sure enough, the white and green figure standing before her was unmistakeable. He had a slight frown on his face as he stared down at Adora. She didn’t hesitate to summon a sword in her hands. “That’s impossible, I… I took you down!”

Horde Prime slowly walked towards Adora, offering up no explanation for his presence. Adora’s mind was racing, but her thoughts were cut as a strand of Horde Prime’s metallic hair shot for her neck. Adora parried it with her sword, slowly backing away as Horde Prime advanced towards her.

Adora parried one more and then attacked, ducking and charging forward. She was able to tackle Horde Prime, knocking him to the ground, but another strand of his hair shot towards her and she had to dodge. Given the distance between them now, Adora knew what she had to do.

She raised her sword to the sky and shot a single beam. The signal. Within a few minutes, Adora wouldn’t be alone. With her sword raised, she also cried out.

“For the Honor of Grayskull!”

A flash appeared before Horde Prime’s eyes as Adora transformed into the legendary She-Ra. Her hair becoming almost as golden as her armor as she braced herself into a fighting stance. She grit her teeth as she faced Horde Prime. “Alright… I’ve beaten you once before. I can do it again!”

Horde Prime launched forward towards Adora, and she dodged to the side. She placed herself on the defense for now, knowing Catra would be on her way. Adora simply had to dodge and parry, no matter what Horde Prime threw at her. In all honesty, Adora could barely think straight.

How was Horde Prime alive? Adora had destroyed him after taking back Etheria, and all of his clones had been freed of his grasp. Yet, this was Horde Prime. She had no doubt about it. She knew Horde Prime wouldn’t answer her questions, so she would simply have to take him down and interrogate him.

She decided to try and fire a beam from her sword at him. He quickly dodged to the side and dashed towards Adora. She only had a split second to transform her sword into a shield, blocking his sudden strike at her that sent her back quite a distance, her feet skidding along the ground.

Adora kept her shield up, blocking all of Horde Prime’s attack, whether from his metallic hair or from close quarters. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she felt herself slowly beginning to grow weary. Horde Prime was relentless in his attacks. Her arms were burning up from blocking.

However, Horde Prime was soon stopped as he was tackled to the ground by Catra. Adora let out a gasp of relief as Catra came to save her. Catra tumbled with Horde Prime for a few seconds before he kicked Catra off.

As Catra regained her balance and finally saw who the enemy was, her eyes widened. “What the…” Catra’s voice came out in shudders.

“I don’t know what’s going on either, Catra!” Adora spoke as she stood in front of Catra to protect her. Catra felt completely overcome with fear as she stared directly at Horde Prime. She felt her heart race intensely, like it would explode in her chest.

But surprisingly, Horde Prime had ceased his attacks. He seemed just as surprised as the two of them, and his eyes were directly focused on Catra. “It’s… It’s you…” Horde Prime gasped as he stared at Catra, and he slowly started to inch his way towards her.

“BACK OFF!” Adora screamed, pointing her sword at Horde Prime as he stepped towards Catra. He wasn’t stopping. He seemed entirely entranced by Catra, like she was some sort of deity.

“Little sister… it’s been so long…” Horde Prime spoke and Catra felt a cold chill go down her spine as she stepped back. Slowly, a smile grew on Horde Prime’s face. Not a wicked one, but a genuine smile. He was completely delighted to see Catra.

“I said, BACK OFF!” Adora screamed, leaping towards Horde Prime.

Just as Adora went to attack him, the two women suddenly saw a blade driven through Horde Prime’s chest from behind.

He had been impaled through his back, a blissful smile still on his face. Both Adora and Catra froze in their places as Horde Prime crumbled to his knees, smiling up at Catra with a sword in his back. Slowly, Horde Prime turned into little specks of ash as he melted away, his remnants blowing away with the wind as he perished into nothingness, not even leaving a body behind.

And standing behind what used to be Horde Prime was another woman.

She was a little older than Adora. Her hair was extremely long, going down to her waist. It was a frizzled, bushy mess, going in wild directions. Her skin was covered in cuts and dirt, and her clothes were worn and tattered.

But most peculiar of all, she had the same eyes as Catra. Yellow and turquoise. She also had similar cat ears, though this woman’s cat ears drooped slightly. She was tall, skinny and messy. She wore no shoes, her feet bare against the dirt ground.

“He experienced an outburst. Because of me. I’m sorry,” the woman spoke. Her voice sounded rough, like she was struggling to get the words out.

Catra stepped towards the woman as Adora transformed back to normal, leaving her She-Ra form behind and making her sword disappear. Catra stared at the woman for a long while, and their eyes met.

Suddenly, the woman threw her arms around Catra.

Catra stopped, completely frozen as the woman hugged her tight. Instinctively, Catra wanted to throw this woman off her. But her arms refused to move. She was completely stuck in the woman’s embrace, and it almost felt… warm.

However, the hug was quickly broken as the woman realized she was overstepping her boundaries. “I’m sorry, it’s just… It’s been so long, Catra…” The woman spoke as she took a few steps back.

The woman had tears welled up in her eyes as she smiled at Catra. She could see the confusion in Catra’s eyes, and she grabbed her own wrist and sighed. “I… I guess I should introduce myself…” The woman cleared her throat, looked directly into Catra’s eyes and spoke.

“My name is Felinia… and I’m your sister, Catra.”


	2. Past

Time did not process for a while in Catra’s mind as it was flooded with a million thoughts, all of which were related to her past and trying to remember when she ever had a sister.

At most, Catra had fuzzy memories of what she thought were her parents. She couldn’t quite remember their faces, but she could remember two figures in her childhood. Never in her mind did a sister come in. She stared at the woman, Felinia, in front of her, and simply shook her head. “What… What are you talking about?” Catra asked. “I don’t have a sister.”

Felinia nodded solemnly. “I understand that this is going to be confusing for you, Catra.”

“Confusing? No, not really. I understand that you’re lying to me. What I don’t understand is why,” Catra seethed, her eyes narrowing as she stared at this woman before her. Adora watched on, almost tempted to step in between the two women before Catra did something regretful.

“I get it. I really do,” Felinia spoke in the most gentle tone she could as she looked at Catra’s glare. “But you just need to take a few breaths…”

“Take a few breaths?! Do you think I’m having some temper tantrum?!” Catra cut Felinia off, and Felinia flinched slightly.

“That… That was a poor choice of words on my part… You are allowed to feel this way…”

“Oh, good, I’m so glad you approve me being angry! It makes me feel so much better!” Catra threw her hands in the year as she laughed in a spiteful tone. “So first Horde Prime shows up out of nowhere, and then you kill him, and now you’re trying to say you’re my sister?! That makes no sense!”

Felinia didn’t do much to respond as Catra yelled at her. Adora understood Catra’s anger. It was a reflex after seeing Horde Prime again, which she still couldn’t process how that happened. However, it seemed he was gone for good. This woman, Felinia, had killed him. Again.

“Catra…” Felinia sighed. “I know you do not believe me, and I understand why. But I just want you to try and think back for a few moments. Have you ever seen someone… like yourself? With your ears? Your eye colors? Your hair?”

Catra continued to glare at Felinia, but she decided to take her advice and pondered for a few moments. Adora watched as Catra gazed at the floor for a few seconds, before finally, she shook her head. “No. You’re the first.”

“Our species… It is not common on Etheria,” Felinia explained, “I have not found anyone like us, even after all these years… I am sure you have already realized that.”

“And what does that prove? That doesn’t mean I’m your sister. You’re making no sense,” Catra’s voice was low as she spoke up to Felinia. “This could just be a trick. Maybe you’re after the Heart-Blossom and you’re just trying to distract us.”

Felinia raised both hands. “I am willing to go as your hostage to the Heart-Blossom or wherever else you want to take me. I am willing… to do anything to prove myself to you, Catra.” Felinia softly smiled. “Not a day has gone by where I do not think of you.”

Catra’s intense glare never left, despite Felinia’s words. If anything, it only served to make her even angrier as she scowled. “Then why haven’t you shown your face in… what, twenty years? You just conveniently decide to show up now?”

“… I was trying to protect you,” Felinia spoke softly as she looked at the floor. “I couldn’t come to see you… I gave you to the Horde to protect you.”

Catra’s eyes widened as she took a step back, and Adora could see Catra’s eyebrows narrow as she gritted her teeth. “You… gave me away? To the Horde?”

“When you were three years old… I had to do it, Catra. It was the only choice I had. I did everything I could to protect you… But you’d never be safe from the Horde unless you were in their walls as one of them… But I swore, every single day, that I’d save you,” Felinia declared. “I swore I’d be your superhero.”

“Oh, well, what a fantastic job you did!” Catra screamed suddenly. “You have no clue of the level of suffering the Horde put me through! Everything that happened… The things I did…” Catra put her hands on her head as she took a few deep breaths, and Adora immediately approached Catra, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“… I’m so sorry, Catra,” Felinia spoke softly, only to be met with Catra’s glare again. “But… I promise, I wouldn’t ever lie to you. Everything I have said is the truth. You have every right to feel the way you do.”

Catra opened her mouth to respond but closed it soon after. She looked at Felinia for a few moments. “I’m going back to Bright Moon,” she mumbled to Adora, before walking pass Felinia and back home, refusing to even acknowledge her. Felinia did not attempt to chase after her, but only stood and watched as Catra went away.

“Are you telling the truth?” Adora asked.

“Yes,” Felinia responded, “but I understand that it’s hard for her. It has nearly been twenty years, after all. Anyone would react like that. I just hope that… maybe she will come around.”

“That’s up to her,” Adora said, “I’ve grown to know Catra a lot over these years. She takes time to process things like this. It might be best if you just leave her be for now.”

“That’s okay. She can take all the time she needs. I don’t expect her to forgive me. I just want her to believe me,” Felinia responded. “Are you her friend?”

“Something like that. I’m Adora.”

“It is nice to meet you, Adora. I’m just glad Catra has grown to have a few friends. She used to bite and claw a lot when she was a baby and I was afraid she’d be that anti-social for life,” Felinia smiled. However, the smile soon faded as she looked down at the floor. “Can you try and make sure Catra’s okay? I’ve already caused her enough pain.”

“I’ll do my best,” Adora nodded, “but I can only do so much.”

“I know. I appreciate it, though.”

Adora went to go after Catra but stopped after taking a few steps and turned to face Felinia. “By the way… Do you know why Horde Prime come back? How did you kill him so easily? Was he real?”

Felinia looked at Adora for a few seconds. Adora could see Felinia’s lips drop into a frown and her whole body sink as she grabbed her own wrist. “He came back because of me. Because of… Because of my curse.”

“Curse?” Adora raised an eyebrow.

“… I want to tell Catra first. It’ll all make sense in due time. She should know first-hand from me. All I can say for now is that I didn’t mean to hurt you. But… it is all my fault that he attacked,” Felinia said. Before Adora could ask any more, she had turned to walk away into Plumeria. Adora stood alone in the abandoned village, and her mind raced with so many thoughts. She, too, was trying to remember her long past.

There were many questions in Adora’s mind. And so few answers.

* * *

A seat was empty at dinner that night when Adora joined Glimmer and Bow at the table.

“Hey there,” Glimmer smiled as she looked at Adora. However, the smile soon faded. “Where’s Catra? I haven’t seen her since you two went on patrol this morning.”

Adora pulled up a chair in front of a meal as she sighed. “It’s… a lot. I don’t want to dump too much on you two all of a sudden if you don’t feel up to it,” Adora said.

“Catra is our friend. Her problems are our problems,” Bow declared and Glimmer nodded in agreement. Adora looked at her two friends closely, and she knew the trust she had in them was greater than anything. She ran a hand through her hair.

“We… We ran into Horde Prime on patrol,” Adora began, and almost immediately, Glimmer and Bow’s eyes were widened as they were struck by Adora’s words. “Before you freak out, he’s gone! I… don’t know why he showed up. But I’m convinced I destroyed him after we restored Etheria. Whatever that was… It wasn’t the real Horde Prime. We did fight, though… I had to transform into She-Ra just to survive.”

“I guess that explains why Catra is so shaken up. Seeing Horde Prime would really bring back a lot of bad memories for her, huh?” Bow spoke.

“That’s only the beginning,” Adora continued. “When Catra showed up to protect me, Horde Prime just… got all weird. He started approaching Catra in such a gentle matter, like they were… close or something. I could never imagine him acting like that in a million years. It freaked us out. But then… he was gone. Stabbed in the back and… crumbled to dust.”

“Who killed him?” Glimmer asked.

“A woman I’d never seen before… But she looked so much like Catra. At least, back when Catra was in the Horde… Her name is Felinia, and she claimed to be Catra’s sister. Which Catra didn’t buy whatsoever, and she just stormed off,” Adora explained. “And… she’s been locked in our room ever since. I spoke to Felinia a bit and she just seemed… really sad.”

“Wow…” Bow gasped softly.

“Well… What if this Felinia is just lying? I mean, Catra has every right to be upset. She just comes out of nowhere after twenty years?” Glimmer said. “I mean, do you ever remember Catra having siblings?”

Adora shook her head. “As long as I’ve known Catra, we’ve just been in the Horde together. I actually found her in a box in the Fright Zone when we were super young. Catra really only talked about her past once…”

* * *

The young Catra sat with her best friend Adora in silence.

They held hands as they awaited a talk from Shadow Weaver. In the three years they had known each other, they realized that a talk with Shadow Weaver never usually resulted in anything positive for either of them.

“Do you think I’m in trouble?” Catra asked nervously as she looked to Adora. The blonde girl shook her head.

“You haven’t done anything bad this week. I’m right here for you, okay?” Adora assured Catra, squeezing her small hand tighter. However, before Catra could respond, the door suddenly opened. Shadow Weaver stood with her hands behind her back, her eyes narrowing at Adora.

“You shouldn’t be here. This is between me and Catra,” Shadow Weaver spoke slowly to Adora, but Catra shook her head.

“She stays or I go,” Catra declared. Shadow Weaver looked between the two young girls and sighed.

“Fine.”

Shadow Weaver closed the door behind her and loomed over Catra, looking down at her. “Dear, sweet Catra… It’s time we talked about you. Who you were before you joined the Horde. You surely have family?”

Catra was in silence as she looked at the floor, and Shadow Weaver leaned down, placing a finger under Catra’s chin and tilting her head up. “I asked you a question, Catra. Do you have siblings? A family? A place you came from?”

“Why do you care? Adora is my family now,” Catra responded, wrapping her arms around Adora. Shadow Weaver took a few breaths and stroked a hand over Catra’s cheek, which she instinctively flinched from.

“Adora is your best friend. She is not your family. You have to remember where you came from. Who put you in that cardboard box where we first found you?” Shadow Weaver asked, and Catra shook her head almost immediately.

“I don’t know.”

“Catra… At least try to remember.”

“I don’t know!” Catra said in a louder tone. “All I remember is a house somewhere in the woods and two people! It’s all… fuzzy…”

“Catra, you have to think harder. This information is vitally important. This location could aid the Horde in its mission,” Shadow Weaver put her hands on Catra’s shoulders, and Catra closed her eyes tight. She clenched her face as she tried to think, and Adora watched her.

But at long last, Catra simply sighed. “I really… really don’t remember,” Catra eventually mumbled. Adora squeezed her hand, a warm smile on her face.

“That’s okay. I don’t remember much from when I was younger either. You’re not brain damaged,” Adora reaffirmed Catra, and she was met with a similar smile on Catra’s face.

“Perhaps this current moment isn’t the best time to ask. But I will try and get this information, Catra. Knowing your family is vitally important,” Shadow Weaver declared as she stood up and went to leave. As she opened the door, Catra spoke up.

“What about your family?” Catra asked. “Where do you come from, Shadow Weaver?”

Shadow Weaver froze in place with her hand on the door. Adora could see a slight tremble from Shadow Weaver’s body as she faced away from the girls. “… It would be wise to never ask that question again, Catra.”

“But I’m just curious! You said it was vitally important to…”

“DON’T. Test me, Catra,” Shadow Weaver seethed, her eyes shooting a look of death straight into Catra’s soul. However, she soon let out a breath, and closed the door, leaving the young Adora and Catra together.

“At least she didn’t yell at you too much this time,” Adora tried to put a smile on Catra’s face. “Remember when you bit her thumb last month?”

Catra’s lips curled into a smirk as she giggled. “Yeah, that was pretty funny. Though, now I know that Shadow Weaver’s thumb tastes… icky.”

The two girls laughed together as they held hands. But the thought of her past still filled Catra’s mind. Something so vitally important, and yet she could barely remember a thing beyond some fuzzy images.

Catra was used to letting Shadow Weaver down. But this time, she felt like she had let herself down.

* * *

The moon of the night sky had stolen Catra’s gaze for quite some time now.

She looked up from the balcony of Bright Moon, and yet her mind was filled with thoughts of Felinia. Her words had struck Catra and stuck in her mind. They refused to leave. This entire day had gone by and Catra could barely comprehend it.

She put her hands on the balcony ledge and sighed as she heard a door open and close behind her.

“Hey Adora,” Catra spoke without even looking. It couldn’t have been anyone else that entered the room, after all.

“Hey there,” Adora spoke softly as she approached Catra. She leaned her arms against the railing next to Catra as she stared up at the starry sky as well. “Weird day, huh?”

“You’re telling me,” Catra scoffed. The two women stood side by side, staring up at the night sky as a moon shined down upon them. Adora looked to Catra to see her beautiful form under the night. The way she composed herself and stared off into the distance just reminded Adora why she loved her so much.

“How’re you feeling?” Adora asked, and Catra’s head lowered as she put her face in her hand.

“Just… completely and utterly confused,” Catra sighed. “I barely remember anything from when I was a kid, and I sure don’t remember having a sister. But… the more I think about it… she had no reason to lie to us.”

Adora put a hand over Catra’s and she intertwined her fingers with hers. “It’s okay to feel this way. I’m here for you, alright?”

“I know,” Catra sighed as she leaned a head on Adora’s shoulder. “This still doesn’t explain why Horde Prime just showed up all of a sudden… And why he was so fascinated by me.”

“She told me it was because of some curse. She didn’t explain much because she wanted to tell you first-hand,” Adora said as Catra nuzzled her head into Adora’s neck.

“… She looks like how I used to look,” Catra suddenly mentioned. “Back when I was in the Horde… She has similar hair. I think that’s why I hate looking at her so much. She reminds me of how I used to be… And it makes me feel like crap. Like I was too cruel to her for something she couldn’t control.”

“You had every right to react the way you did,” Adora comforted Catra, rubbing her thumb over Catra’s palm.

“She did give me away to the Horde however… But that’s if she’s even telling the truth in the first place. I just… I don’t know what to do, Adora. Should I be mad? Happy to have a sister? I’m so lost. I tried to sleep on it a bit earlier but… every time I close my eyes, I just see Horde Prime…” Catra lowered her head even more, and Adora’s heart stung slightly.

Adora slowly caressed a hand over Catra’s cheek, gently turning her head to face her. “You don’t have to feel any set emotion. You don’t have to figure out everything in an instant, Catra. Take your time to process this. Felinia said she won’t judge you. She just… wants you to believe her, I guess.”

“Well, she has no reason to lie. I just… don’t know if she’s telling me everything,” Catra sighed. “Why did this have to happen now? I’m so happy with you and everyone else, and now it feels like everything’s been thrown back into chaos again. It’s not fair. I just want some peace.”

“I know, Catra. I’m so sorry… I wish I could help more than just standing here uselessly,” Adora cursed herself, but Catra only responded to that by passionately pushing her lips against Adora’s, sharing a brief but loving kiss.

“You’re not useless. You’re the only thing keeping me from having a meltdown at the moment. I… really, really need you right now. I know you can’t answer everything for me, but… this shoulder to cry on is exactly what I need from the woman I love,” Catra smiled, leaning her head back on Adora’s shoulder.

Adora felt sparkles of warmth from Catra’s embrace, and she slowly brought an arm up over Catra’s shoulder as they watched the night sky together. “No matter how confusing gets… we’ll always have each other, Catra. I promise.”

* * *

Catra could barely keep her eyes shut throughout the night.

She knew what awaited her in sleep. It would be the darkness, or Horde Prime. Perhaps both.

She looked over to the sleeping Adora and listened to her soft snores for a while. It was like music to her ears to hear Adora in such a peaceful state. Back in the Fright Zone, Adora never used to snore like this.

Catra sighed, putting her hands behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. A few hours had passed and she knew it’d be a sleepless night. She looked to the balcony and saw the Whispering Woods in the distance. She stared at it for a while, before pressing her hands against the bed and raising herself up suddenly.

She slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, being careful not to wake her girlfriend. Catra gathered so warm clothes and put them on almost silently. As she went to leave, she looked over shoulder and let her tail slowly rub against Adora’s cheek for a few seconds. It seemed to comfort her.

Catra snuck out of Bright Moon easily enough. She spent so long sneaking around the Fright Zone that she was used to this by now. She went out one of the doors and felt the cold breeze hit her skin. Her breath formed into soft mist before her as she walked into the Whispering Woods.

She reflected on how this used to be dangerous to do. No Horde soldier ever came back from the Whispering Woods, but now, it was like a gathering center for all people of Etheria. Catra went there with Adora often.

She entered the woods and scanned around for a bit. The dirt floor crunched beneath her feet as she looked at the trees and bushes. The moon shined down and lit up the woods before her as Catra sighed, before taking a breath.

“Felinia! I know you’re out here somewhere!” Catra called out. Her voice echoed on the trees for a while as she stood in the middle of the woods. Even though these woods were safe, her nerves shot up as her voice bounced off the trees in the distance.

She flexed her claws almost on instinct as she waited for a few moments before she heard footsteps other than her own. Her eyes shot in the direction of the new footsteps and she jolted to defend herself, but soon enough, she returned to normal as she saw whose footsteps they were.

Felinia emerged from the trees and stepped towards Catra, almost shrinking before her.

“Hey Catra,” Felinia put on an awkward smile as she gave a small wave, which Catra didn’t return. She looked at Felinia’s eye colors for some time. They were almost identical to Catra’s. Felinia avoided Catra’s eye contact as she stared at the floor.

Catra crossed her arms, and sighed.

“Felinia… We need to talk.”


	3. Felinia

Catra looked directly into Felinia’s eyes and saw that the gaze was returned. Felinia often looked at the floor. She wasn’t doing that now.

“I understand you have many questions. I am ready and willing to talk for as long as you need me to,” Felinia explained as she put a hand over her heart. Catra shook her head, putting her finger and thumb against the bridge of her nose.

“First, I just… need to know I can believe you. Is there any way you can prove to me that you’re my sister?” Catra asked as she looked to Felinia. She remained silent for a while as her eyebrows narrowed in thought before she looked to Catra.

“Our mother used to tell me that… when it comes to our species, no matter how different we become, the siblings will always have the exact same claw size. So… we can compare that and see if it matches up. Though, I never figured out if that was just a mere rumor or not,” Felinia chuckled awkwardly as she shrugged her shoulders, but Catra didn’t return the laugh. Instead, she raised a hand and flexed her fingers, showing her claws off to Felinia.

“Come on,” Catra said. Felinia looked at Catra’s claws for a few moments before she too raised her hands and did the same as Catra. She hesitated to push her hand against Catra’s for a while, unsure if Catra would appreciate the closeness. However, it was instead Catra who pushed her hand against Felinia’s, growing impatient.

Sure enough, their claws were almost exact. Felinia’s were a bit rustic and chipped, but they were the same length. Catra took her hand away after a few seconds and sighed. “… Look, you clearly are doing everything in your power to prove this to me. So… I’m going to take you at your word for now and ask you a few questions. But if I sense even the slightest bit that you’re lying…”

“I would never lie to you, Catra. I promise,” Felinia slightly bowed before Catra to show her vow. Catra crossed her arms and sighed.

“Come on. You don’t have to do that. I just want to talk,” Catra spoke, and Felinia slowly raised her head to meet Catra’s gaze. “Do you wanna sit down somewhere?”

“I’m okay with standing… I’m used to it by now, actually,” Felinia smiled. Catra leaned her back against a tree as she looked to Felinia, and finally, begun.

“Why have you been gone all these years? You never came to see me once, and you didn’t even leave a note. And secondly, did you have anything to do with Horde Prime from today?” Catra asked in quick succession. “Those are my two main ones. The rest can come later.”

Felinia looked to Catra and her mouth curved downwards as she was overcome with a deep chill in her stomach. She took a moment to look to the sky, the moon shining upon her face before she finally looked to Catra and started.

“It’s a long story…”

* * *

Felinia’s three-year-old sister had already given her a multitude of cuts and bites on her arm, and yet that never stopped her from playing with Catra.

The two sisters, with Felinia being older by four years, lived together in a cottage deep in a forest. Their house was small and consisted mostly of wood, but the smell of food from the kitchen was always rampant throughout the day and filled them with warmth and wholesomeness.

With their mother out for the day to go to the nearby town, Felinia was left with Catra to look after her. Both of their hair styles were similar: wild, scruffy and everywhere. Catra was always observing the world around her and always wanted to go outside.

Felinia had to remind her at least ten times a day, “no, Catra. We can’t go outside or the bad people will get us.” It was something her mom had drilled into her for the seven years of her life, and she made sure to do the same for Catra. Though, she never could figure out if Catra understood it or not.

It was nearly night-time and the smell of slow cooking food had been with the sisters all day. Though, this time they were mostly distracted as Felinia had her hands under Catra’s arms, holding her up and encouraging her to take the first few steps of her life by herself.

“You’re really close, Catra!” Felinia encouraged her sister. “I’m going to let go now, okay? If you take a few steps by yourself, I’ll give you half of my dinner.”

Catra stared at Felinia in bewilderment, her eyes wide and her mouth small. This was the look Felinia was used to by now. Catra was either curious or upset about something, though she did laugh every now and then.

Slowly, Felinia let her hands slip away from Catra and allowed her to stand by herself. Catra’s arms were spread wide to keep her balance as she planted her feet against the floor a few times on the spot. She looked to Felinia with her eyebrows narrowed and her lips wobbling, but Felinia simply smiled at her.

Catra looked to the floor and slowly raised a foot, before firmly planting it in front of her. Felinia gasped in excitement as she watched her sister take a step. Catra raised her other foot, but soon started waving her arms around wildly as she toppled to the side, making noises of panic. Felinia’s arm shot out and caught Catra, planting her hands firmly onto Catra’s back as she fell, saving her from the fall.

“You took a step by yourself! That’s amazing!” Felinia cheered as she held Catra, lowering her slowly and allowing her to sit and crawl like she was comfortable with. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you walking just like I do soon enough. You’ll see!”

Catra looked to Felinia curiously for a few seconds, before eventually the front door opened. The two sisters looked to see their mother walking in through the front door. “Hey, you two,” she smiled upon seeing her daughters.

“Hey mom!” Felinia smiled gleefully as Catra gave a big wave to her mother, which she returned. Their mother had short hair which still frizzled up and had two yellow eyes and a short stature. “You should’ve come sooner! Catra took a step all by herself!”

“Did she now?” Their mom smiled as she went over to the sisters, picking Catra up and raising her high in the air. Catra’s eyes went wide as she scanned the room frantically, almost looking for an escape. “Soon enough, you’ll be walking and talking like your big sister.”

“What was I like when I was Catra’s age?” Felinia asked as her mom held Catra close, softly rocking her.

“Well… you were walking and bouncing and jumping and all manner of things that freaked me out… But Catra is just taking her time with things. No one has to rush her,” their mom smiled as she kissed Catra on the top of the head.

“Do you reckon we might be able to take her outside soon? She could walk a bunch out there!” Felinia asked, but almost instantly, the smile faded from their mother’s face as she gently put Catra back on the ground, sitting her down.

“I’ve already told you, Felinia. It is very, very dangerous out there. Catra could get hurt by very bad people,” their mom warned.

“But we’re in the middle of nowhere! Catra will never walk if you keep her trapped all the time!” Felinia pleaded. Before their mom could respond, Catra started making loud noises of distress as she waved her arms around, panicked over Felinia raising her voice. Their mom sighed, standing back up and leaving Catra with Felinia.

“I just need you to trust me, okay? Catra will learn things like walking and talking eventually. It doesn’t matter if she takes a bit longer than everyone else, alright?” Their mother told Felinia. Before she could respond, their mother had already left to check on the stew for that night.

Felinia huffed, before turning to Catra and putting on an awkward, crooked smile. “It’s okay, Catra. I’ll help you learn, no matter what. I’ll be your superhero!” Felinia declared, raising her fist in the air in a sense of pride. Catra clapped at the spectacle, laughing loudly.

Felinia loved hearing her sister laugh.

As promised, Felinia gave half of her dinner to Catra that night, which she very much seemed to appreciate. However, apart from that, the dinner table was generally silenced. Felinia could tell her mother wasn’t in the mood for talking, and she guessed it was because of her comments from earlier. She spent the whole time wondering if she should apologize, but the time never came for her.

After a short bath together, the sisters sat in their small bedroom in their pyjamas as Felinia ran her claws through Catra’s long hair, clearing it of muck and dirt. Catra sat idly, staring around at the ceilings and the walls as Felinia removed bit after bit of mess. Though, it didn’t do much to fix Catra’s hair in the first place.

“Almost done, Catra,” Felinia whispered as she ran her claws through the hair one last time. “There. You look as beautiful as anything.”

Catra stared up at Felinia with wide eyes and Felinia couldn’t help but laugh at Catra’s vacant stare. It was cute in a way, but at the same time, it made Felinia think just how little of the world Catra had seen. The outside world looked beautiful from their window, but they could never explore it.

“… We’ll go out there one day, Catra. You’ll be able to run wherever you want. Talk as much as you want. I’ll be right here to help you,” Felinia whispered as Catra stared out the window. Funnily enough, she started making distressed sounds as she pointed outside. “Catra, what’s out there? Is it an animal?”

When Felinia looked outside, she saw multiple figures in armor approaching the house.

She’d never seen these people before, but just the sight of them sent chills into her spine. Even though it was late, Felinia decided to leave Catra in the room and go to her mother’s room. She opened the door, and approached her mom in bed, shaking her shoulder. “Mom? Mom?”

Their mother’s eyelids slowly raised open as she awoke from sleep, revealing her yellow eyes. “Yes…? Is everything alright?”

“There’s people outside, and they’re wearing weird outfits. They’re just standing there,” Felinia spoke. Almost instantly, their mother sat up.

“Are you sure?!” Their mother spoke in a tone Felinia had never heard before. Her breathing had suddenly become unstable and Felinia’s heart began to race as she slowly nodded. Their mother quickly got out of bed and went to a nearby window. As she saw them, her eyes widened and she quickly turned to Felinia. “Take your sister. Hide somewhere. If they start… hurting me, you need to run. You remember our panic exit, right?”

“Why… Why would they hurt you?” Felinia asked. “You haven’t done anything to them…”

“They’re from the Horde,” their mother responded. A word Felinia had never heard before in her life. “Listen… No matter what, you must never speak or go near someone from the Horde. Okay? They’re full of very, very bad people who just want to hurt you and your sister. You have to promise me you won’t go near them.”

Felinia looked at her mother and her heart felt like it was going to rip out of her chest as she nodded. “I… I promise… Mom, what are they going to do?”

“That doesn’t matter. You just need to hide. I’m going to try and tell them to go away. Remember, you know how to escape. Don’t let them see you,” their mother explained.

She leaned down and put her hands on Felinia’s shoulders, and for the first time in her life, she saw tears form in mother’s eyes. Felinia had never seen her mother cry before, and just the sight made her throat tighten up and a heavy weight form in her stomach.

“I love you, Felinia. You and Catra will always be the most important people in my life, okay? I will always love you,” their mother said quickly, but she was soon interrupted by the sound of banging against the door. “Go! Get Catra and go! Quickly!”

Felinia didn’t get a chance to say ‘I love you’ back. She never would.

Felinia went to her bedroom and picked up Catra, who had the same look of confusion as always. Felinia knew the exit, a small hole near the back of the house that only she and Catra could fit through. However, as she approached the hall, her legs almost turned to jelly as she heard the door open. She hid behind a wall and watched as the door was smashed open, and a flood of Horde filled the kitchen.

“What are you doing?! Get out!” Their mother screamed, grabbing a Horde soldier by the wrist and sinking her claws into it. The Horde soldier threw her down to the ground violently.

“This house is occupying territory that belongs to Lord Hordak. We’re checking to make sure you aren’t occupying anything that could be deemed dangerous or illegal,” a Horde soldier explained, “afterwards, we’re taking you in for questioning and a declaration of your loyalty to Lord Hordak.”

“I will never be loyal to that monster, and I am telling you to get OUT!” The older woman suddenly scratched at the face of the Horde soldier, tearing off their helmet and leaving a deep scar on their cheek. Felinia put a hand over Catra’s mouth to prevent her cries as a few Horde soldiers suddenly pressed their electrical stun batons against their mother, shocking her body from multiple sources.

The scream that emanated from their mother would never leave Felinia’s mind.

But she did not pass out. Their mother fell to her knees, but she refused to go down as she swung wildly at the soldiers around her. This only led to more stun batons being pressed against her, and it took about half a minute for her to finally fall down flat.

She was still alive. The attacks wouldn’t stop. Felinia watched as the Horde kept on electrocuting their mother, and she pressed her hand tight against Catra’s mouth, hiding her from the view. Felinia saw every moment. Their mother eventually went limp, but they wouldn’t stop. Her pupils dilated, but they wouldn’t stop.

After a few minutes, the last stun baton was pulled away from her. Their mother wasn’t moving anymore. Her chest was no longer rising and falling as the Horde soldiers looked down at her. Felinia had to do everything her power not to scream as her throat tightened up.

She quickly ran for the hole, and got down onto her belly, crawling through with Catra in her arms. She crawled for a few moments before finally being able to stand up and bolted for the trees.

Felinia ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. She held Catra tightly as she ran for her life. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and getting lost in the wind. The sounds coming from Catra were the sounds she so desperately wanted to make.

It was so cold and dark, and eventually, Felinia tripped on nothing and fell on her side, holding Catra close and protecting her from the impact. Felinia laid in the dirt, holding the crying Catra tight and joining her in those sounds. “I’m sorry, mom…” Felinia choked as she curled her knees up to her chest. “I’m so sorry…”

Felinia and Catra laid in the dirt, alone and cold.

* * *

Those tears returned to Felinia in the present day as she wiped them from her cheek. She looked up to Catra. “You know… You look like mom. With the short hair and all. It brings back memories,” Felinia mentioned as Catra stared with wide eyes at her.

“I never remembered what our mom looked like… Was she our only parent?” Catra asked.

“As far as I remember. Maybe we had other parents… I mean, we have heterochromatic eyes. There had to have been someone else, but… I don’t remember,” Felinia sighed.

Catra tightened the grip on her crossed arms as she sniffled slightly, looking at the floor. “She sounded kind… But I barely even remember her. She gave her life for us and…”

“Catra,” Felinia spoke suddenly. “I know what you’re going through. This guilt… You can’t let it eat away at you.”

“Don’t tell me how to feel,” Catra suddenly snapped, silencing Felinia. The two sisters remained in silence for a few more seconds, before Catra sighed softly. “Sorry… It’s just… A lot to take in all of a sudden. I get the sense you aren’t done either.”

“Do you want to take a break?”

“No… Let’s just get it all done. I’ll… have time to process it later,” Catra hunched slightly as she didn’t make eye contact with Felinia.

The silence sat for a few more seconds, before Felinia slowly nodded. “I don’t know how long I was out for… But it was still night when I woke up…”

* * *

Felinia woke as she felt Catra shivering in her arms. Her skin had turned pale under the cold weather and she felt her nose had almost turned to ice. She had managed to keep Catra somewhat warm, but her body heat was slowly running out.

Felinia looked around to see trees and darkness. The dark sky gave no light on the world as she sat up, holding Catra close. She had no clue where she was or where to go. All that surrounded her were trees.

Her mother’s screams still rang in her ears. They kept shocking her for so long and she just kept on fighting. Felinia cursed herself for being so, so useless. She cursed herself for staying still and doing nothing. She couldn’t look at her sister. She could barely even look at herself.

But she knew she needed to protect Catra. She had promised her mother that, and she knew she had to keep that promise. As Felinia stood up, she turned around to get her bearings.

And she came face to face with her mother.

Her yellow eyes stared into Felinia’s soul. Felinia felt her heart leap and then stop as she stared right at the mother she had saw die a while ago. Felinia fell back as she saw her mother, and at the exact same time, so too did her mother express fear, jumping back at the sight of her daughter.

“M… Mom…? How are you…?” Felinia’s words came out through shuddered breath. Her mother had wide eyes and she shook her head as she stared at Felinia.

“Why are you scared, Felinia? It’s me,” their mother spoke, and at the same time her entire body was shaking. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Felinia’s mind became overloaded as she looked at her mother. She slowly rose to her feet with Catra still in her arms, and even Catra stared at her mother with curious eyes. As Felinia reached out a hand, her mother’s fear slowly left her and it was replaced with the same curiosity that Felinia had.

Felinia pressed her hand against her mother’s arm and felt the same gentle skin she was used to for the last seven years. Felinia jumped back at the touch and shook her head. “That’s impossible… That… You’re not real…”

“Why don’t you believe me…?” Their mother asked, tears slowly forming in her eyes. She looked at her daughters and panted, panic building in her chest as she looked Felinia in the eyes. “WHY?!” She suddenly screamed, prompting Felinia to suddenly turn and run again with Catra still in her arms.

Felinia’s heart was racing, a mix of the running and the terror. Her throat was so tight that she could barely let out cold breaths. Catra was making panicked noises yet again, reaching for Felinia’s face. Her small, icy cold hands touched Felinia’s cheek and felt her tears.

However, Felinia soon spotted a roaring orange blaze in the distance and quickly headed for that light. It seemed that a great big fire was close by, and that meant warmth.

Felinia scanned behind her and saw that no one was chasing her. Still, she felt unsafe and kept running as she approached what looked to be a village up ahead. She felt the warmth of the roaring fire, but she discovered where it was coming from.

The village was covered in flame. Buildings were ablaze and crumbling before her very eyes, and even worse, people were in the village. All of them laid still on the cold ground, their eyes vacant and their skin ghost white.

Felinia held Catra close to her chest, covering her eyes as she looked at all the corpses strewn about. She stepped over body after body. The warmth of the fire did nothing to prevent the icy knife that dug into her heart as she looked at each and every body. The tears felt like a natural part of her cheeks now.

She soon had to close her own eyes, instead directing her gaze at the floor as she stepped back into the forest and ran into a different direction. She wondered if she’d ever find a place to stay ever again. Whether her and Catra would ever be warm.

As Felinia ran a few steps, she suddenly saw the feet of someone else before her. She gasped and stopped, before she took a step back, raising her eyes and almost expecting to see her mother yet again.

But as she looked up, she only saw the eyes of one of the villagers from before.

Felinia’s breath left her, and she soon found people suddenly appearing all around her. She recognized each and every one of them. All of them being the dead villagers from before, but now they were back to life right before her very eyes. They were all afraid too. They shook where they stood, all of them surrounding Felinia.

Felinia held Catra close as she looked them all in the eye. She fell to her knees as her legs turned to jelly and she grit her teeth. “Why…?” Felinia asked, the words barely coming out as every inch of her body was overcome with the cold.

All of the villagers were afraid of each other too. They kept looking at each other and jumping back, and some had fallen to the ground, their teeth chattering. Felinia could slowly feel her breath return to her as she began to pant, trying to suck in air and keep her mind steady.

But she knew it was too late. Everything was slowly breaking before her, and she held Catra even closer. Catra’s cries could barely sound over the chattering of teeth and shuddered escape of breath that surrounded the sisters. Felinia felt her tears leave her cheeks as she took in breath after breath after breath after breath.

When Felinia screamed, it was echoed by everyone around her.

* * *

“… It took me a while to figure out what was going on,” Felinia continued as Catra had almost completely frozen, lost in Felinia’s words. “I don’t know why or how… I don’t know the origin or what I did to deserve this, but…”

Felinia looked into Catra’s eyes. “I am cursed.”

“Cursed…?” Catra asked quietly.

“Cursed to be haunted by the dead. If I see a dead person, see a dead person’s name or hear about a dead person… Then they somehow return to life within the span of a day. Our mother died… And she came back to life. Those villagers died and they were back too after I saw them,” Felinia continued, “but they aren’t the real person. They are merely a false creation… A clone of sorts. They’re hollow. Fake.”

Felinia squeezed her wrist as she spoke. “These people that come back to life through my curse… They reflect my emotions. If I’m afraid, they’re afraid. If I’m happy, they’re happy. If I freak out, they freak out. They can and usually do have a will of their own… But if my emotions hit the extreme, it reflects onto them.”

Catra could only watch. No words were coming to her as Felinia spoke.

“The only way to get rid of these… the dead… is to kill them all over again. Once they’re killed again, they’re gone for good. Even if I hear their name again or see their corpse again, they won’t come back. They only ever come back once. But… unfortunately, killing them again can prove difficult… When I heard about Horde Prime’s death, it was only a matter of time. It took so long to kill him… But when I saw you, it seemed that he was as surprised as I was. It gave me the opportunity to end him for good.”

Catra felt her legs give away as she flopped down, sitting with her back against the tree as the weight of Catra’s words crushed her. “Catra? Are you okay?”

“I… I had no idea…” Catra whispered, barely getting the words out. “You’ve been dealing with this… this curse for so long…”

“I still haven’t figured it out. My only theory is that it has something to do with our species. But… the only prevention is to try and avoid places where there will be dead people or names of dead people. I had to isolate myself from everything… But in order to truly isolate myself, I had to give away the one person most precious to me.”

* * *

Felinia sobbed as she placed the small Catra into the cardboard box she had found.

Her hands shook as she looked down at Catra’s curious eyes. The drops of tears fell onto Catra’s face, and Felinia wiped them away. Catra raised her arms towards Felinia, making curious sounds as Felinia sighed, lowering her head.

The Fright Zone was just in the distance. What the Horde had done to their mother would never leave Felinia’s mind, and yet, she had no confidence in protecting herself or Catra. Felinia had weighed up the decisions, agonizing over them for days as she was surrounded by her mother and the villagers. She had no idea how to deal with them.

Felinia had made the promise to protect Catra. Now, that meant protecting her from herself.

“I’m so sorry Catra… I know you’ll never forgive me for this, but I promise I won’t let a place like this shape your future. I promise… Once I figure this all out, I’ll be your superhero… Like in the stories I read to you… I’ll save you from this place…” Felinia tried to put on a smile for Catra, but her lips wobbled immensely and the tears in her eyes made it hard to do so.

“It was either this… Or condemning you to be stuck with me… With this… this curse… I don’t know if I’ll be able to protect you from the Horde so… This is the only place you can be safe in…” Felinia sobbed, knowing that Catra wouldn’t understand anything except for the fact that her sister was crying. Felinia buried her face in her hands as deep, broken, agonizing sobs left her very soul.

It hurt to swallow as she looked at Catra one last time. “Don’t let evil twist you, Catra. Okay? I’ll be back before you know it, and I know you’ll be a good person. Don’t let anyone here convince you otherwise,” Felinia declared, looking directly into her sister’s eyes as she spoke. She stroked a hand over Catra’s cheek and whispered.

“I love you.”

With that, Felinia brought the lid of the box over Catra and closed her inside. The lid had a few holes poked through it, but she hoped Catra wouldn’t be stuck in here for too long. Felinia grabbed the box and stood up, looking to the Fright Zone.

The only place safe from the Horde was in the Horde themselves. Felinia hesitated to step forward, but every time she thought of turning back, the thought of her mother’s death convinced her otherwise.

She didn’t want to have Catra end up like that.

Felinia turned to the mass of villagers behind her, all of them with tears streaming down their cheeks. “Do not follow me. Just for now. This is between me and Catra,” Felinia told the villagers coldly. They all nodded as they sobbed, and Felinia had to wipe her tears away as she sniffled.

She held the box close and stepped towards the Fright Zone.

* * *

“And… that’s how you ended up with the Horde. I still don’t know if I made the right decision… But I can’t change the past. I just have to live wary every day. Avoid the names or mentions of the deceased… When I heard that the Horde had been defeated, I set out to find you. But then I heard about Horde Prime’s passing and… well…” Felinia sighed sadly.

Catra looked up at her sister and felt like a million words had been caught in her throat. She opened her mouth multiple times to say something, but ultimately, Felinia spoke again before Catra could form any words. “Catra… I blame every little bit of pain you’ve gone through in the last twenty years on myself. All of the suffering you’ve gone through is all my fault… The guilt weighs on me every single day… I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. I don’t expect you to want to speak to me ever again.”

Felinia took a breath. “But I want you to know how proud I am of you. You’ve grown into someone who, from what I hear, saved the world. You’ve become a great friend to so many around you. I can tell Adora really likes having you around. I’m so proud that you found your own happiness and crafted your own future… And I’m sorry that I failed to keep my promise. All I wonder now is… If you’ll ever let me back into your life.”

Finally, Felinia was silent. She left Catra with her thoughts, her feelings. Catra sat and stared at nothing, her fingers twiddling together and her eyes almost blank. Her stomach felt heavy and her chest felt vacant at the same time. She could barely even look her sister in the eye.

She didn’t feel hate or contempt or even joy. She felt completely and utterly lost. Felinia could only look sadly down at her sister, waiting for many minutes for Catra to say anything. She expected the silence to never be broken.

“Felinia…” Catra spoke, her voice hoarse and dry as she sniffled. “I… I can’t judge you. I need… so much time to process this… so if you’re looking for me to make some decision about how I feel about you, you’re going to be waiting for a while,” she spoke.

“That’s okay,” Felinia nodded. “I’ll leave you be…”

“Let me finish,” Catra interrupted. “I’m… okay with letting you stay at Bright Moon in the meantime. You don’t seem to want to hurt me or my friends, so I’m willing to trust you in some way. But… just give me some time to take this in, okay?”

Felinia nodded in complete understanding. “Thank you.”

Catra finally stood up and left for Bright Moon with Felinia behind her. Her chest was slowly filling with butterflies and her whole body felt weightless as she walked. Though she only took a few steps before Felinia spoke up yet again. “I… I’m sorry Catra, but I just have one question for you.”

Catra turned to face Felinia. “What is it?” She asked.

“Well… I didn’t mean to listen in on the conversation between you and Adora today… I was trying to stop Horde Prime and accidentally heard a few words, but I have to ask…” Felinia looked into Catra’s eyes.

“Who is Mara?”


	4. Small Talk

Catra had only gotten an hour of sleep when she awoke in Adora’s arms.

She felt her strong arms wrapped around her waist and smiled warmly. It was a nice sense of security to have. It made Catra appreciate just how much things had changed. She remembered when she used to sleep at Adora’s feet, all curled up.

Catra could hear Adora’s soft snores and felt her warm breath against the back of her neck. She slowly turned to face the ceiling, sighing as she looked at the daylight filling the room.

Everything from last night was still processing. From hearing about her mother’s death, to Felinia’s curse and Felinia being the one responsible for her upbringing in the Fright Zone… Catra had cried a few times throughout the night and she wasn’t sure why.

She felt almost devoid of all emotions now, simply filled with pure thought and nothing else. How could she judge Felinia? Did she want to? Should she tell everyone about Felinia’s curse? Catra had ultimately decided that it was up to her sister whether she wanted to share that information.

However, if Felinia’s curse started endangering everyone yet again like with Horde Prime, Catra would be willing to tell everyone everything if Felinia didn’t.

Even still, Catra hadn’t figured out how to feel about Felinia as a person. She was soft-spoken, reserved and awkward to be around, and yet she always gave off a sense of honesty. Catra didn’t doubt any of the words Felinia had said for a second.

Ultimately, Catra knew she wouldn’t figure all of this out in an instant. The one thing that stuck with her above all else was her mother’s sacrifice, along with Felinia’s. Both of them worked so hard for her. Her mother died believing she would be a great person, and Felinia vowed to save Catra so she’d never fall to the ideals of the Horde.

Even after everything that had happened, Catra couldn’t help but feel she had betrayed both of them. Especially her mother.

Catra sat up before she let the thoughts consume her. As she did, Adora’s arm slipped from her, awaking the blonde girl as she slowly opened her eyelids and stared up at her girlfriend. “Hey there…” Adora mumbled as she smiled up at Catra.

“Hey Adora,” Catra smiled softly, though she knew the bags under her eyes would be more than noticeable.

“Did you sleep okay?” Adora asked, sitting up alongside Catra.

“Not really,” Catra sighed, looking down at the bed sheets. “I went out last night to talk to Felinia. Wanted to get a few questions answered.”

“How’d that go?” Adora responded.

“… I got my questions answered,” Catra sighed, “I… think it’s up to her whether she wants to share it with the rest of us. It was mostly family history. But ultimately, she wasn’t lying. I really do have a sister…”

“How does that make you feel?” Adora asked, bringing her hand up and rubbing circles around Catra’s back. It sent tingles of warmth and comfort through Catra’s spine, and she felt her shoulders relax.

“I feel… confused still. I haven’t figured out the appropriate response, and it makes me feel like crap. I guess I’m happy? But at the same time… It feels like I missed so much of my life. It… I really don’t know, Adora. I’m so lost,” Catra’s voice went weak as she spoke.

“And no one should pressure you into finding answers right away,” Adora spoke softly, “we’re all here for you, Catra. You’re allowed to feel confused. I think it’s natural, given your current situation. Take all the time you need to figure out how you’re feeling right now. I’ll be right here to help you, okay?”

Catra leaned her head on Adora’s shoulder and let out a deep breath, a comfortable smile curling on her face. “Thanks Adora…”

“Where’s Felinia now?” Adora asked in a soft tone.

“I decided to let her stay the night in one of the guest rooms. I figured she was trustworthy enough to have around… She didn’t have any reason to feel ill-intent towards me or anyone here. I think we might be seeing her at breakfast… if she even leaves her room at all,” Catra spoke with a slight chuckle.

“I’m sure she’ll want to see her sister. I almost want to meet her myself and see which of you is cuter,” Adora smirked.

“Oh, have I got to compete with my sister now?” Catra asked.

“Maybe,” Adora snickered. “You’ve got it in the looks department but I’ve yet to really speak to her much… Maybe there’ll be some stupid love triangle that goes on from here…”

“Well, she can back off if that’s the case…” Catra smiled, going along with Adora’s playfulness. It was nice to just be light-hearted for a few minutes. “I made a promise to not let you go and I intend to stick to it. Maybe we can have a literal cat fight for your love and attention.”

“Trust me, you won’t have to fight for anything,” Adora kissed the top of Catra’s head, “I love you with all my heart. Nothing’s going to change that. Even if your sister ends up being a total cutie.”

“You’re so dumb…” Catra mumbled, her voice becoming more slurred and quiet as the weight of her sleepless nights began to hit her all at once. “I love you too…”

Adora brought her hand up and used her thumb to softly stroke Catra’s short hair. She continued doing this for a few minutes before Catra fell asleep in her arms, light snores echoing through the room.

Adora decided to test something. She took her hand away from her girlfriend’s hair, and almost immediately, Catra’s eyes opened and she grumbled, reaching out with tired hands for Adora’s wrist. She loosely grabbed it and brought Adora’s hand back to her hair, wanting more pets from her girlfriend. When Adora stroked Catra’s hair once more, she fell asleep yet again within seconds.

Adora giggled gently and decided to stay like this with Catra for as long as she needed. She had a feeling Catra was tired and hearing the love of her life sleep peacefully in her arms was enough for Adora to be happy.

The two of them slept in, but no one really blamed them for it.

* * *

“You two! Sleepy heads! Wake up! We need to talk!” The annoyed voice of Glimmer sounded as her fist pounded against the bedroom door. Both Adora and Catra awoke with a slight start at this.

“Mmmph… Come in…” Adora’s voice slurred as she looked down at her girlfriend, who had an angry look on her face from the rude awakening.

“I can’t just barge in! You two could be, like… doing stuff to each other!” Glimmer rejected the offer in a tone that almost made it sound like Adora had personally attacked her. Adora and Catra looked at each other with a smirk and could barely hold back their laughter.

“We’re not doing anything!” Adora replied.

“Not yet, at least…” Catra slurred and Adora had to elbow her in the ribs as her cheeks flushed red, though it only served to make Catra laugh even more.

“Look, we just found someone in one of the guest bedrooms. We’ve got her apprehended, but she’s claiming to be your sister and she looks almost like you, so we need confirmation,” Glimmer explained. Catra pinched the bridge of her nose as her laughter died out, and she sighed.

“Yeah… That’s my sister. I should’ve told one of the guards she was there,” Catra said as she got out of bed, quickly getting dressed and opening the door to meet Glimmer face to face. She had her arms crossed as she looked up at Catra.

“So you didn’t think about introducing us?” Glimmer asked.

“It was, like, the middle of the night! I was going to introduce you in the morning!” Catra exclaimed. “What, uh… What time is it anyway?”

“Nearly time for your breakfast to go cold. We’ll let your sister go. Sorry for waking you so suddenly, you two… We just had to be sure,” Glimmer mumbled as she looked at the floor, almost embarrassed about her mistake.

“It’s okay, Glimmer. You were just trying to protect us,” Adora spoke up.

“Yeah, well… I’ve never been too good at that, huh?” Glimmer asked, and neither of the women could respond. “I’ll see you out there,” Glimmer said after a few moments of silence, leaving Adora and Catra alone and somewhat confused at Glimmer’s words.

After Adora had gotten into some comfortable clothes, they went out to find Bow and Glimmer sitting together. “Hey, you two,” Adora waved at them.

“Sorry for freaking out about your sister!” Bow apologized. “Both of us were walking together and we just noticed one of the guest bedrooms were opened and we both… kinda freaked out,” he explained, scratching the back of his head. “She was understanding about it, at least… I think she mentioned her name was Felinia?”

“Yep,” Catra responded as she grabbed her food, not elaborating any further. The four of them were silent after Catra’s brief response, and Glimmer cleared her throat.

“So I take it you two… met up last night or something?” Glimmer asked as Adora stacked her plate mighty high with food. It was normal for Adora at this rate to gorge herself and no one batted an eye.

“Yeah. We talked about some private stuff…” As Catra spoke, she suddenly saw a figure peering just from behind the door, looking into the dining room from the hallway. It was like someone was spying on them, but Catra soon recognized who it was. “Felinia, you can come in. You don’t have to spy on us.”

The rest of the room turned their heads towards the door, forcing Felinia out of her hiding spot. She entered nervously, not really making eye contact with anyone except Catra. “Sorry, everyone… I wasn’t sure if I was allowed in here or not…”

“Well, Catra has cleared you of all charges,” Glimmer explained.

“Ah… Thanks, Catra,” Felinia smiled at her sister, but Catra simply shrugged. “Oh, and uh… Thank you for your mercy, Princess Glimmer…” Felinia spoke softly, before gently bowing before Glimmer, who simply raised an eyebrow in response.

“You don’t have to bow to me, Felinia. And it’s Queen Glimmer… but just call me Glimmer, okay?” She explained and Felinia immediately stoop back up, her body straight as a board.

“Yes! I understand! I didn’t mean to cause any offense, I was just…”

“Felinia, just chill out,” Catra interrupted Felinia. The two sisters looked at each other for a few seconds, and Felinia nodded wordlessly, before hesitantly approaching the table, taking a seat and shrinking slightly as she put her hands on her lap.

Felinia awkwardly looked around the table, hesitant to grab any food. She slowly reached out a hand for a single piece of fruit, looking at everyone to make sure no one stopped her or told her she was breaking the rules. She slowly took the single piece of fruit off the table and in her hands, and let out a sigh of relief as no guards apprehended her for this action.

“So… What do you think of Bright Moon, Felinia?” Adora asked, desperate to break the silence.

“It’s beautiful. I’ve only read about this place in books, but they can’t even begin to capture how marvellous this place is,” Felinia smiled gently as she spoke, “I’m so glad Catra lives here with such wonderful friends such as yourself, Adora.”

“Friends… Yeah…” Adora looked to Catra for a few seconds, and Catra nodded, giving her permission. “Uh, actually, we should probably tell you… I’m Catra’s girlfriend. Sorry we didn’t mention it sooner. We’ve been together ever since Etheria was restored.”

Felinia put a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. “Catra! You have a girlfriend?! That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you!” Felinia gushed, smiling brightly at Catra.

“Yeah, well… She could only resist my charms for so long, I guess,” Catra scoffed, but she didn’t really laugh or blush. Felinia smiled brightly at the two of them, and yet only Adora returned it. Felinia soon turned to Bow and Glimmer as well.

“And you two? Are you also together?” Felinia asked, and immediately, both of their faces went red.

“Well, uh…” Glimmer twiddled her thumbs together.

“I…” Bow scratched the back of his head. Both of them couldn’t really form a coherent sentence for a few seconds, until eventually, Glimmer spoke up.

“We’re just… friends.”

“Friends! Yep! Best Friends Squad!” Bow flashed a thumbs up.

“Super best friends, right here,” Glimmer continued.

“Yeah, the… best of the best!” Bow smiled uncomfortably. Both of them made eye contact for a few seconds, before looking back at Felinia. No one in the room was convinced, not even the two of them themselves, but the topic was soon dropped as Felinia turned back to Adora.

“I went through the Bright Moon library last night,” Felinia started, but she soon cut herself off to turn to Glimmer, “uh… sorry if that wasn’t allowed.”

Glimmer simply shrugged.

“Anyway… I was looking at the books here because there were so many I haven’t read before. I, uh, like reading and stuff… Um… But I found a few that were about you!” Felinia beamed. “I hear you’re a legendary superhero called She-Ra!”

Adora chuckled awkwardly. “Yep, that’s… that’s me, alright. I’ve got a sword and everything.”

“I love reading about superheroes. My mom, Catra and I always used to read stories at night around the fire about superheroes. They always had such a righteous moral code, and they never gave up, even at impossible odds. They always kept their promises, and they never lied. I always wanted to be a superhero,” Felinia declared.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool to have powers. And turning into an eight-foot tall lady is an added bonus,” Adora laughed, blushing slightly at the admiration. “Maybe I’ll show you She-Ra when I get the time. So you can see all the cool abilities.”

“Really? You’d do that?!” Felinia asked.

“Sure, why not?” Adora shrugged. She glanced over to Catra for a bit and noticed that her girlfriend didn’t seem into this conversation at all as she stared at the food on her plate.

“Well… What about the rest of you? Don’t you have awesome powers? I read that there are so many different kinds of princesses,” Felinia asked.

“Uh… I get my powers from the Moonstone, which is the giant runestone you can see outside. It gives me sparkly powers and teleportation and such,” Glimmer explained.

“That’s so awesome! And what about you, Bow?” Felinia turned to him.

“I, uh… I have a bow and arrow,” Bow explained. “Sometimes the arrows do different things.”

“Cooooool,” Felinia gushed. “Do you make your own arrows?”

“Actually, yeah! I’ve always wanted to talk to someone about my arrows and the tech behind them, if you’ve got the time,” Bow smiled.

“Oh, please, tell me everything when you can. I’ve always got time. Gosh, you’re all so cool and wonderful!” Felinia complimented, but the only ones who were really beaming were Adora and Bow. Catra was still staring blankly at the table and Glimmer could only awkwardly chuckle, unsure how to respond. “What about the rest of the alliance?”

“Well, some of them are on break after that big fight with Horde Prime. I know that Scorpia and Perfuma are off on a getaway together…” Bow rubbed his chin in deep thought. “I think some of them are in space…”

“SPACE?!” Felinia suddenly cried, standing up and shaking the table, almost spilling a few drinks. Everyone had to grab on to certain food items to prevent them falling off the table. “I… I LOVE space! I love the stars and the moons and the planets and the spaceships and everything! I mean, the stars have only been around for so long so there’s still so much to discover and learn about them!”

“Yeah, well… I think everyone here has been the space. It’s pretty awesome,” Adora smirked and Felinia could only put her hands on her cheeks, a bright smile rising.

“What’s it like? Tell me everything! Is it huge? Did you go in a spaceship? Was there other species out there?!” Felinia asked, almost panting from the pure excitement. Adora and Bow found it cute, while Glimmer found it a bit weird. Catra was barely paying attention.

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Adora replied and Felinia’s jaw dropped in amazement.

“That’s so, so awesome!” Felinia cried in pure joy.

“Well, I’m glad you’re getting comfortable here, Felinia. You’re easily excited, huh?” Adora couldn’t help but comment with a chuckle, and Felinia took a few seconds to reflect on her previous actions, before her face turned red and she suddenly sat down, avoiding eye contact yet again.

“I, uh… I’m sorry… I should probably calm down…” Felinia spoke, her voice becoming softer.

“You think?” Catra mumbled, and Adora looked at her for a few seconds, before turning to Felinia.

“It’s okay. I get excited about lots of stuff too,” Adora smiled. “I’m sure we’re all just glad you feel safe and happy here, Felinia. Isn’t that right, everyone?” Adora asked, specifically looking at Catra and Glimmer as she spoke.

“… Yeah. Totally,” Glimmer smiled weakly.

“Sure,” Catra shrugged. “Tell you what, Felinia. Why don’t we go to space one of these days? Just the two of us together.”

“Can we… Can we really do that?” Felinia asked and Catra nodded. Felinia’s eyes became wide with glee as she brought her clenched fists up to her lips, making sounds of pure excitement as she tapped her feet against the floor rapidly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re… You’re welcome…” Catra spoke. She had tried to make a good basis with Felinia with that offer, but every time she looked at her sister, all Catra could see was flashes of her past self. Who she was back in the Horde when she used to hurt everyone. Along with that came the words Felinia had spoken about their mother. About Catra’s childhood that she could barely remember.

“… Excuse me,” Catra suddenly mumbled, pushing her food away and standing up from the chair, leaving the room in a hurry before anyone could stop her. Felinia’s smile faded, and she looked to Adora with worried eyes.

“Did I say something wrong?” Felinia asked, and Adora wanted to comfort her, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She couldn’t really give Felinia an honest answer, so she simply sighed, standing and going after Catra herself.

And with that, Felinia was left with Bow and Glimmer. But above all else, she was mostly left with her thoughts, dread and guilt.

* * *

Adora had quickly made her way to the Whispering Woods, following Catra’s trail. She was able to find her in the middle of the woods, her arms crossed as she leaned against a tree, her face screwed into an agitated look.

“Are you okay?” Adora asked.

“Oh, what do you think?” Catra suddenly snapped. “It’s been just over a day, and now I have a long-lost sister sitting with me at the dining table, and it seems her superpower is making everyone uncomfortable! Can you even comprehend just how weird this all is?!”

“Catra…” Adora sighed sadly, slowly raising her arms. She looked at Catra for permission, and Catra nodded, moving in and resting her forehead on Adora’s shoulder as Adora wrapped her arms tightly around her girlfriend. “I know this is really confusing for you… But I think you should give her a chance. She’s really trying to get along with everyone for your sake.”

“I know… I’m sorry for snapping, Adora. It’s just… This is so crazy… I can barely make sense of things…” Catra sighed as Adora brought a hand up to the back of Catra’s head, stroking it softly. Catra was able to bring her arms up to wrap around Adora’s waist, and the two girls held onto each other tightly.

“We still have each other. Remember? Nothing really bad could happen as long as we’re together,” Adora smiled, and she heard Catra chuckle.

“That was some dumb promise we made when we were younger… I’m surprised you still remember it,” Catra replied.

“Of course I do. My fondest memories almost always involve you.”

“Heh… You’re a dork,” Catra replied. A few moments passed as they held each other, before Catra separated, her eyes directed to the floor as a frown took over her face. “Felinia told me about our mom last night. About what happened to her.”

Adora held Catra’s hand, interlocking her fingers as she simply let Catra speak. “She… gave her life for us. She distracted a bunch of Horde soldiers, and they… slowly killed her. It gave Felinia the opportunity to run away with me while they… did that,” Catra explained as Adora softly gasped, holding Catra’s hand tightly. “She… She died so I could live a good life… And I betrayed her… I joined the very people that killed her and…”

“Catra, stop,” Adora placed a soft, gentle hand on Catra’s cheek, looking at her. “Look at you now. You’ve made mistakes, but I know your mom would be so proud of you.”

“Mistakes? Adora, I… I’m a monster. I hurt so, so many people. I hurt you,” Catra looked sadly into her girlfriend’s eyes. “How could my mom ever be proud of me?”

“Well, it’s not like you volunteered for the Horde, right? You didn’t even have a choice. We just found you in that box,” Adora explained.

“Yeah… It was actually Felinia who put me there. She wanted to protect me and not have the Horde come after me so… She figured that was the best place to keep me safe in the meantime,” Catra said. “I feel like I’m supposed to be mad at her for that… But I’m only angry at myself. I let myself be consumed by so much hatred… I let the Horde consume me. I let Felinia down. I let mom down. I let you down. And every single time I look at my sister, and I see that long hair… It reminds me of who I used to be. And it only makes me hate myself even more.”

Adora couldn’t find any words to say, and she slowly felt Catra slip her hand away from her own. Catra took a few steps back, refusing to make eye contact with Adora. “I… I’m sorry, Adora. I just need to be alone for a while. Everything feels so… cluttered.”

“That’s okay, Catra,” Adora nodded. “Will you be back at Bright Moon at all today? Glimmer wanted to talk to us about redoing the last Princess Prom.”

“After I ruined the last one?” Catra asked, and Adora immediately felt a wave of guilt hit her stomach as she realized what she just reminded her girlfriend of. Catra simply sighed and walked away deeper into the woods, leaving Adora standing alone.

“I’m such an idiot…” Adora sighed, burying her face in her hands. She stood for a few seconds as a weight of guilt crashed down on her shoulders, but she soon had to turn back for Bright Moon and talk with Glimmer and Bow. She figured maybe catching up with Felinia might heighten her spirits a bit.

And when Adora turned around for Bright Moon, she suddenly came face to face with Mara.


	5. Curse

The whole world stopped in Adora’s mind at that moment. The moment she came face to face with Mara, the previous She-Ra.

This woman who had been dead for over a thousand years now stood before Adora, staring at her with the same amazement that Adora was giving her. Their words were caught in their throats, and no matter what they did, they simply felt paralyzed.

Adora wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually, she could feel movement return to her legs as she stepped towards Mara. Her mind was filled with confused, muddled thoughts, but most of them led to the same conclusion: there was no way this was real.

Mara was dead. She had been dead for generations, she sacrificed herself to save Etheria and Adora had felt grief for her. Now she was standing there. Light Hope was the first thing that came to Adora’s mind. This was some sort of trick, she thought. But then again, Light Hope was gone. She was under no influence by her or the First Ones.

Adora slowly reached out a hand towards Mara. She completely expected it to phase through her, but instead, when Adora placed a hand on Mara’s cheek, she felt her skin. She felt Mara’s cheek, the gentle squish under her palm and the warmth of her body. Adora took a few steps back, gasping slightly. “This… You’re not…”

“… Adora?” Mara whispered softly. This only served to scare Adora even more as she heard Mara’s voice. She… spoke. Like a real person. “So… You’re alive? Etheria looks so beautiful now… And you didn’t have to sacrifice your life for it?”

Adora couldn’t give an answer. She couldn’t even get a straight thought in her head as she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head. “Who… Who are you? You can’t be Mara. Is this some trick?”

“I don’t know either… I’m not quite sure what brought me here. I’m just as surprised as you are,” Mara responded. “I almost thought I had gone back to my time. But you really restored Etheria, huh?” Mara smiled.

Adora looked at Mara’s smile. It was beautiful. But it was terrifying. It can not be real. Adora stared at Mara for a few seconds, and slowly began to walk pass her. “Where are you going?” Mara asked.

“I just… No, I’m sorry, but you can’t be real. I won’t let myself be tricked,” Adora spoke, walking away from Mara and refusing to turn back or even look at her again. Her heart was screaming for her to turn around and face the previous She-Ra. After all, she had felt her cheek. She was warm.

But Adora’s mind knew better. She knew that Mara died tragically for something she couldn’t control. She knew that Mara suffered under the First Ones and the weight of She-Ra. She knew there was no reason to turn back. She had grieved for Mara’s loss, from what little she knew of her. That was enough.

Adora forced her legs to move as she walked back to Bright Moon, refusing to turn back and look at that tragic figure.

* * *

Felinia had mostly kept to herself in the library for the day, but she had been overhearing bits and pieces of the conversation between Adora and her friends. They had been discussing the upcoming Princess Prom for a while now in the library, and even though they were on opposite ends, Felinia could hear them loud and clear. They weren’t exactly the best at being quiet.

It was almost dark as Adora, Glimmer and Bow gathered around a floor map of the upcoming Prom.

“So I was thinking… Maybe we could have some sort of dress-up party this time around?” Bow suggested as Felinia’s ears perked up. “Maybe everyone could come dressed up as She-Ra!”

“Uh, no… No, I don’t want a bunch of She-Ra’s around me…” Adora chuckled nervously, some frightening imagery coming to her mind as Glimmer pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing.

“I’m pretty sure playing dress-up at the Princess Prom would break like… sixty rules. It’s a traditional thing, we can’t go playing around with it. Plus, you all looked fine last time. Even if some of you were going out with other people…” Glimmer shot a quick death stare at Bow.

“Look, Perfuma asked and I couldn’t just say no! Plus, there was no reason for you to just avoid us the whole night!” Bow defended himself, but Glimmer simply crossed her arms.

“Oh no, I get it. Our friendship means that little to you,” Glimmer huffed. However, she soon cracked into a smirk, and snorted. Eventually, Bow did the same, and the two of them broke into laughter that echoed throughout the library. “Okay, okay… I was a little dumb back then, I’ll admit. But you still totally cheated on me.”

“Cheated on you? You say that like we were in a relationship or something,” Bow observed, but Glimmer quickly shut her mouth, looking away from Bow and back to the table. Though, she mostly did it to hide her blush from Bow.

“Anyway… I think we can keep the same rules as last time. We just don’t have to worry about any Horde soldiers ruining it,” Glimmer concluded. Adora looked at her feet as Glimmer spoke those words, reminded of how Catra felt guilt over her actions at the previous Princess Prom.

“I guess we can start sending out invitations,” Bow smiled, “and I know who needs to come along!”

Bow turned his head towards the other end of the library and called out. “Felinia!”

Felinia, in a sudden jolt at Bow’s loud call, accidentally banged her head against the stack of books behind her, knocking them over. She rubbed the back of her head as she felt a stab of pain through it, before she suddenly realized her mistake and quickly started grabbing at the mess of books she had knock over.

Felinia made panicked noises as she tried to remember the order of the stacked books, but her memory was failing her. “Felinia, you okay? I heard some crashing,” Adora spoke up, and Felinia’s eyes went wide as she started panting, stacking books in alphabetical order.

However, she found that her stack slowly became messy as she added more books onto it, and eventually, it became unbalanced and crumbled over to the side, falling into a mess of pages yet again. Felinia looked over shoulder to see Adora, Bow and Glimmer approaching her, and she felt a sudden shiver climb up her spine.

In an act of desperation, she grabbed a nearby blanket and threw it over the messy pile of books she had caused. She instantly put on a nervous smile for everyone as she stood in front of the blanket, hoping to hide the mess. “Hey there! How can I help you?!” Felinia spoke with the biggest grin she could possibly make, though it did little to hide the panic in her voice.

“We were wondering if you’d want to come to the next Princess Prom with us. It’s a big event, and you can meet a bunch of people there, including all the Princesses!” Bow suggested. Felinia looked at the floor.

“I don’t know… I mean, I doubt they’d want me there…” Felinia mumbled.

“I’m pretty sure they’d show you all their awesome, superhero powers,” Bow spoke, and Felinia’s eyes instantly shot up in a blaze of excitement.

“I’m in.”

“Good!” Bow clapped his hands together, but Glimmer looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Now, hold on. This event is still under the rule of Frosta. She ultimately decides whether Felinia gets to come along or not. Let’s not give Felinia false hope or anything,” Glimmer explained to the excited Bow.

“Oh, I’m sure Frosta will let her in! I mean, she’d be the star of the show!” Bow raised both hands to gesture towards Felinia, trying to show her off as if she was some sort of model.

However, Felinia was anything but. She had dirt and scratches all over her skin, her clothes were worn and tattered, and her hair was long, messy and full of knots. She was gazing towards the ground, giving no confidence of any sort, least of all the confidence of a model.

“… Bow, are we looking at the same person?” Glimmer whispered.

“Glimmer!” Adora seethed at her.

“It’s… it’s fine, you three. I’m not too fussed anyway. If it’s up to the Princess to decide if I can go or not, then that is her choice. I have no right to refute that,” Felinia spoke up. “I’ve actually been reading more about the Princesses today… I have a high level of respect for Princess Frosta, considering her age of all things. She’s accomplished so much.”

“So are all those books scattered on the floor behind you about Princesses?” Glimmer asked, peering over Felinia’s shoulder. Felinia’s eyes went wide as she looked behind herself.

Ultimately, the blanket did little to hide the evidence of Felinia’s mess. “I… I’m sorry, I accidentally knocked those over when Bow called out to me and then I freaked out and you were walking over and…”

“Felinia, it’s fine. I’m sure Glimmer doesn’t mind,” Adora interrupted her, though Glimmer’s face said anything but. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were scrunched up. She looked more annoyed than anything. “Here, we’ll help you clean up.”

“You really don’t have to…” Felinia put her hands up to stop her, but soon enough, Adora and Bow were picking up the scattered array of books and sorting them out. Felinia looked at them, and she too leaned down to pick them up. “I’m sorry if this is bothering you.”

“You’re not bothering us. You’re my girlfriend’s sister. I could almost consider you family, really,” Adora smiled as she helped stack the books neatly, though it was mostly Bow doing all the work. Felinia smiled at Adora’s comment, though Glimmer had simply gone back to the Princess Prom plan.

“So… What was the previous Princess Prom like?” Felinia asked.

“It… didn’t last long. It was attacked by…” Adora began the story, but stopped. She realized that Felinia may not even know about Catra’s horrible deeds in the Horde. She had no idea how much Felinia knew of Catra’s life. Perhaps she thought that Catra was always a good person who had escaped the Horde?

Adora hesitated. Telling Felinia the truth may hurt her and hurt her relationship with Catra. She had no idea what to say, but eventually, she didn’t have to say anything.

“It was ruined after I attacked it,” a voice suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to see Catra standing at the library entrance, looking at Felinia.

“You’re back… I was starting to get worried,” Adora spoke up, going over to Catra to hug her. However, as she approached Catra, she could instantly feel that her girlfriend was in too deep a state of complex emotions to return any physical affection at the moment. Adora slowed down, and gave Catra her personal space.

“You… attacked it?” Felinia asked.

“You gave me to the Horde, Felinia. What did you expect?” Catra spoke with a hint of venom in her voice. “We were in a war with the Princesses. It was the perfect opportunity.”

Felinia looked at her sister. She had no idea how to respond as Catra admitted the deeds of her past. “I… Catra, you…”

“Yes, I was a monster. Maybe I still am. Who knows? I can’t even figure it out. But you gave me to the Horde. Of course I hurt people. It was all I was good at,” Catra sighed. Adora put a hand on Catra’s shoulder.

“You know that’s not true,” Adora whispered, but Catra simply shrugged her off.

“I… I’m sorry, Catra. I was trying to protect you, but… I can’t excuse my failure. I have no idea of the things you did in the Horde… All I know is that whatever actions you committed, they must have caused you great pain,” Felinia attempted to comfort her sister, but she was simply met with a few chuckles from Catra.

“On the contrary… I remember having a blast ruining that last Princess Prom,” Catra spoke coldly, a wicked smile on her face. Felinia could only stare at her sister in horror, and Catra’s smile faded. “I look back on it now and I only feel regret… But in that moment… I was so happy ruining everyone’s lives. That’s the person I was. That’s the person mom sacrificed herself for. So, was it worth it? She died for a monster.”

“STOP!” Felinia suddenly screamed, shocking Catra as well as everyone else. “I… I won’t let you say such things. Our mother’s sacrifice was not in vain. Maybe I’m a lost cause, but look at you! Look how wonderful you are! You have someone who loves you so much that they want to spend the rest of their life with you!”

Catra looked to that person in question. Adora nodded to Catra, agreeing with Felinia’s words. Catra looked between her sister and her girlfriend, and sighed, turning her back on them. “You all may forgive me… But I don’t think I can ever forgive myself.”

As Catra left, Felinia’s shoulders dropped and she looked to the floor. “I’m sorry everyone… I didn’t mean to raise my voice like that.”

“It’s okay,” Adora smiled softly, “you were just trying to help her.”

“Yeah, well… Look how great I am at that,” Felinia spoke. Adora looked at the Felinia as she moped, her head drooped and her body small and frail. She almost wanted to reach out and hug her, but ultimately, she decided to reach for one of the books from a nearby stack.

What she pulled out was a book about She-Ra.

“Oh, I was… reading that earlier,” Felinia commented, reaching out for the book in Adora’s hands. Adora gave it to her as Felinia flipped through the pages. “It talks about the She-Ra legend and all… Though it doesn’t mention anything about you or Mara.”

“Yeah, it kind of needs an update… Wait, you know about Mara?” Adora asked, and Felinia’s face flushed red as she realized her mistake.

“Oh, um… I didn’t mean to say that… I mentioned it to Catra last night, but I overheard you and her talking about Mara in Plumeria. Before you fought Horde Prime. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it just… got my attention,” Felinia confessed.

“Ah… I see,” Adora responded. She was confused as to why Felinia was so close by, but those questions were better left for another time. “It’s funny, though. I was out today in the Whispering Woods and totally had this weird hallucination.”

“Hallucination? What about?” Bow asked. He had been seated next to Glimmer for a while as she studied the floor map, though he was still listening in on Adora and Felinia’s conversation.

“Well, just when I thought I figured out this whole She-Ra power, it keeps blindsiding me with new things. I saw Mara today,” Adora chuckled, “and she felt like, totally real. I could touch her cheek and it felt… warm. Like she had come back life or something. It was…”

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed across the library.

Adora was cut off as Felinia let the book slip from her hand, and it hit the ground hard. Felinia’s eyes had darted open, and her lips were quivering as her hands shook. “Felinia? You okay?” Adora asked as she looked at the completely panic-struck Felinia.

And then, Felinia sprinted.

“Felinia!” Adora called out, following after her as she sprinted towards the front entrance of Bright Moon.

Felinia proved to be quite fast and nimble as she got ahead of Adora. Bow and Glimmer had decided to follow after Adora as well. Adora could hear Felinia’s frantic footsteps in the distance, and she heard Felinia run through the door and out into the night, towards the Whispering Woods.

When Adora exited Bright Moon, she saw exactly where Felinia was running to. Mara was standing on the edge of the Whispering Woods, and Felinia was approaching her. “What…?” Adora whispered.

“What’s going on?!” Bow asked as he caught up to Adora. Glimmer and even Catra all ran up to Adora, and they all spotted Felinia and Mara in the distance.

“That’s… That’s not who I think it is… right?” Glimmer asked.

“Her curse…” Catra spoke absent minded, and Glimmer immediately turned to her.

“Curse? What curse?” Glimmer asked frantically.

Adora soon ran from the three of them and towards Felinia and Mara. She found Felinia talking to Mara, and immediately spoke up. “Felinia! Tell me what’s going on!”

Felinia looked to Adora, panting and shaking slightly. Mara had also turned to face Adora, giving off a sense of curiosity as she observed Adora. “I… I didn’t mean for this…” Felinia shuddered. “I didn’t mean to bring her back…”

“Who? Mara? How could you…” Adora looked frantically between Felinia and Mara and shook her head. “Is this some sort of hallucination? An illusion? What did you do?!”

“It’s my curse!” Felinia cried.

Those words echoed across to everyone nearby as Glimmer, Bow and Catra also approached Felinia and Mara. Glimmer and Bow were still staring in complete awe at Mara as Felinia held onto her own wrist, hiding her face out of shame. “I told Catra about this last night, but… I’m… cursed.”

“So it is real…” Catra observed, looking Mara up and down.

“Yes…” Felinia sighed. “I don’t know the origin, but… I am cursed to be haunted by the dead. If I see or hear about a dead person for the first time, they return back to life as a clone of sorts… What you see before you is a hollow copy of Mara brought about by my curse. However, she can seem real to almost anyone.”

“What…? That doesn’t make any sense,” Glimmer shook her head.

“I can’t make sense of it either, but all I know is that it happens! I watched my mother die, and I was staring into her eyes a few hours later! I heard about Horde Prime’s death and he was back the next day and almost killed Adora! So… when I overheard Adora and Catra talking about Mara… It was only a matter of time,” Felinia’s eyes look downcast.

“So… how come all these other clones aren’t surrounding you now?” Bow asked.

“The only way to get rid of a clone is to kill them like you would a real person… Once they’re gone again, they won’t come back, even if I hear about them. Horde Prime won’t come back ever again since I killed him. Every single clone that’s been made because of my curse… I’ve had to kill them all over again. They’re dangerous to have around. They reflect my extreme emotions like grief or horror. I’m nervous right now, and I bet Mara feels the same.”

“I… admit, my heart is racing a bit…” Mara says, putting a hand over her chest.

“Felinia… I’m so sorry…” Bow spoke. However, not everyone felt the same.

“Okay, you know what? I’m done,” Glimmer suddenly spoke up, jolting everyone. “You’ve been here for nearly a day and now we have the previous She-Ra standing right here! You didn’t think to tell us you were cursed?! You just happened to forget?!”

“I knew you’d have this reaction… I didn’t want to unnecessarily frighten anyone. I just wanted to see my sister…” Felinia whimpered.

“Oh, I’m terrified, alright! I’m terrified of YOU!” Glimmer pointed a finger at Felinia. “You come back and everything has just felt… weird. You dumped Catra at the Horde, you disappear for years, and now you come back and just so happen to bring about a curse that literally reforms the dead! What else are you hiding from us?! You are causing severe stress and imbalance on our home and in our lives!”

“Please, I didn’t mean to…” Felinia begged.

“Felinia, just stop!” Catra suddenly snapped too. “I kept your secret because you’re my sister, but now I’m starting to think that was a mistake. These people are my friends. They had every right to know about your curse the minute they met you. Now we have another She-Ra standing before us! None of this feels normal! We were leading perfectly good lives up until you came along!”

“Catra…” Felinia looked sadly at her sister.

“Quite frankly, I don’t need the dead raising around Bright Moon. Once people are gone, they’re gone! End of story! Mara shouldn’t be here right now! Felinia, just…” Glimmer glared at Felinia for a few more seconds, before she suddenly turned around and headed back to Bright Moon.

“… I’m going to bed. This entire day has been nothing but crappy,” Catra huffed as well, following after Glimmer.

Ultimately, Adora and Bow stayed behind as Felinia stood on the dirt. Her face was stone and completely expressionless as she looked at the floor.

But soon enough, Mara began to weep.

Adora and Bow stared between the empty Felinia and the crying Mara and felt nothing but a weight on their stomachs. “You mentioned that your extreme emotions reflect onto those brought back by your curse…” Bow commented. “So Mara crying must mean…”

Felinia could only look sadly at Bow as Mara’s weeping filled the air. That was all that was needed for Bow to approach Felinia and hold out his arms. Felinia looked at Bow for a few seconds, and she simply pressed her forehead against his chest as Bow wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, Felinia…” Adora spoke softly.

“It’s okay,” Felinia sighed. “They’re right. I should’ve told them earlier.”

As Bow hugged Felinia, Adora looked to the weeping Mara. And eventually, it began to rain.

* * *

When Adora entered her bedroom, she found Catra sitting on the end of her bed, her hands pressed against each other as she looked down at the floor.

Adora sat on the bed behind Catra. “Hey there,” she whispered.

“Hey,” Catra spoke in a hoarse voice, leaning back and laying her head on Adora’s lap. “Sorry for getting mad out there.”

“It’s okay. I understand why you did,” Adora ran her hand through Catra’s short hair. “Everything has been really confusing recently, huh?”

“That’s an understatement,” Catra scoffed. “I did a lot of thinking today, but I don’t know if any of it helped me. I kept thinking about everything I’ve done… All the people I hurt… And now to add on to that, I have to wonder if my mom would be proud.”

“Catra…”

“My mom died for me, Adora. She died for me and Felinia, and I… I caused so much pain and suffering. I already hated myself, but now… Now it just adds up. Now I feel like I’ve completely betrayed everything she stood for. She wanted to live free of Hordak and I went against her. I just…” Catra put her hands against her face as Adora simply stroked her hair. “I can’t even apologize to her…”

“I’m so sorry, Catra… I don’t even know what to say,” Adora spoke gently. “But what I do know is that I am proud of you. I’m proud of who you’ve become. Yes, you’ve done so many regrettable things in the past. But letting that chain you down won’t help. I can’t speak for your mom, but I can speak for myself. I love you. I am so, so happy with who you are. You worked so hard.”

“… I love you too,” Catra was able to smile up at Adora. “And I love you even more for sticking with me at a time like this. I know it’s confusing… So please just don’t give up on me. That’s all I ask.”

“I could never,” Adora whispered, and leaned down, pressing her lips against Catra’s.

However, as they kissed, a knock suddenly sounded against the door. “Um… Adora? I was told this was your room?” Mara’s voice sounded.

“You let her in Bright Moon?!” Catra whispered to Adora.

“it’s raining! I can’t leave her out there!” Adora returned.

“She’s not some lost, sick puppy!” Catra seethed, but Adora had already gone to the door, opening it to find Mara on the other side.

“Is… everything okay, Mara?” Adora asked, admittedly still feeling weirded out by Mara’s mere presence. Mara felt the same way as she uncomfortably shifted around, trying not to present herself too awkwardly.

“I was told I could have a guest room tonight but… This place is like a maze. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. I’d ask the Queen but she seems… upset at the moment,” Mara admitted. Adora nodded.

“Catra? You going to be okay if I just show Mara to her room?” Adora asked. Catra didn’t make eye contact.

“Sure. I’m just going to take a shower anyway,” she shrugged. Adora closed the door and led Mara down the hall.

“Don’t worry. When I first came here a few years back, I got lost all the time. You get used to it. Bright Moon is pretty huge,” Adora chuckled and Mara smiled.

“I haven’t been here in a while, after all. Though, it still looks very similar to back then,” Mara commented as she walked alongside Adora.

“So… what’s your memory like, anyway? What’s the last thing you remember?” Adora asked. Mara hummed for a bit as she thought, rubbing her chin slightly.

“I… remember the moments before I passed. Recording that final message on the ship… Then everything was white for a while, but I faintly remember our conversation. When you were willing to sacrifice yourself… I believe the power of She-Ra connected us in those few moments. Now… I’m here. I woke up lying on the ground in the middle of the Whispering Woods. I thought I had had some long fever dream because everything looked so similar…”

“Well… You’re one of the reasons I’m still here. I was ready to give my life… but you helped in convincing me otherwise. I never got the chance to say thanks for that so… Thank you. Mara, you… you helped save my life,” Adora smile genuinely at the woman beside her.

“I’m just glad you made the right choice in the end, Adora,” Mara returned the smile. Soon enough, the women stopped in front of a door.

“Oh, here it is!” Adora opened the door to reveal a room that contained a bed that was completely packed with cushions. “Oh, it’s one of these rooms… These beds are so soft, it might be impossible to sleep in…”

But before Adora could finish, Mara had already gone over to the bed and taken a seat. As she did, she suddenly sank into the bed and cushions flooded over her as Mara’s legs became the only visible part about her. “Mara? You okay?” Adora asked.

“Okay?! I’m fantastic! This is the best bed ever!” Mara cheered as she gave a thumbs up from her sunken bed. Adora laughed slightly as Mara curled up with all of the pillows on the cushion mattress. “Thanks, Adora!”

“Yeah…” Adora looked at her feet for a few moments. She heard Mara laugh for a bit as she tried to find a position to lay in on the soft bed. “… Hey Mara?”

“Yes, Adora?” Mara asked, her head poking up to look at Adora.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“… Nevermind,” Adora shook her head, putting her smile back on as she closed the door. “Good night, Mara.”

After she closed the door, Adora looked at her hands for a few moments, before letting out a sigh and heading back to her bedroom.

Adora walked with a weight in her chest that she couldn’t quite describe. It had formed when she first saw Mara that day, and it refused to leave. Adora couldn’t quite figure out why that weight was there.

But she soon assumed that it was guilt.

* * *

Bow saw Glimmer standing with the Moonstone as she looked up at the night sky.

He had come to find her after she snapped at Felinia. He knew that she might need the company and, after all the discussion of death, there was only one place she’d be. The place she felt most connected with the one she lost.

“It’s pretty cold out here,” Bow said as the rain fell upon both of them. “You sure you don’t want to come back inside?”

“… I will soon. I just…” Glimmer sighed. “Can you come here, Bow?”

Bow walked up to Glimmer, and she reached out her hands to hold his. She rubbed her thumbs over his palms and pushed her forehead against his chest. “All that talk of Felinia’s curse… It reminded me of mom.”

“I thought so,” Bow spoke gently. “That’s why I came to see you.”

“This is the place I feel most connected to her. The place where I feel like she’s still here… But I know she’s gone,” Glimmer sighed. “And I’m trying to fill the gap left behind, and I just… can’t. I can’t sit on that throne and confidently call myself a queen. She just… She’s better in every single way than I ever could be.”

“Glimmer… you can’t spend your whole life comparing yourself to Angella. It’ll drive you crazy,” Bow rubbed her hair as he held her close. “You don’t have to be like your mother. I’m nothing like my dads. Does that make me less of a person?”

“It’s not the same, Bow. I have such huge expectations to live up to, and I’m failing miserably. I caused the near destruction of Etheria… I was the reason behind so much trauma and grief,” Glimmer held Bow’s hand tighter as her whole body began to shake.

“Angella made mistakes too, Glimmer. You can’t be expected to be perfect.”

“I’m not trying to be perfect!” Glimmer replied. “I’m just… trying to live up to her name… and that’s almost as hard. She’s gone… But I think, in the back of my mind, I… I’ve never really let go of her. I keep imagining she’ll just show up one day… And I don’t know if I want that or not. I’m confused. I’m… scared, Bow.”

“… Do you want me to stay here a bit longer?” Bow asked, rubbing her hair. Glimmer simply nodded, holding Bow closer.

The rain fell, and yet their bodies gave warmth to each other. They always have had each other, but after the battle against Horde Prime, it felt like something had changed. Like a spark had occurred that neither of them really recognized. They were growing so much closer than before. They had no idea what to call their relationship anymore.

But whatever it was, it was beyond friendship.

Slowly, Glimmer stepped away from Bow, and looked up to him. However, as she looked up, she saw another figure standing at the end of the walkaway, opposite the Moonstone. Glimmer narrowed her eyes at the distant figure. “… Felinia?”

Bow turned around, and the two of them saw Catra’s sibling also standing in the rain in the near distance, looking at them. “What are you doing here?” Bow asked in a gentle tone.

“I… came here to apologize to Glimmer for upsetting her. But then I heard about Angella…” Felinia explained. “Who was she? I’ve read about her in those books today, but only knew that she was Queen of Bright Moon…”

“… Angella was my mother,” Glimmer explained. “She was the Queen for a long time. But… she’s gone. And now I have to fill her shoes. That’s all there is to it. And I would really appreciate if you’d stop eavesdropping on private conversations like that.”

“I… I only wanted to apologize…” Felinia looked to the floor. “I’m sorry. But… this Angella… What happened to her?”

“… She’s gone. But I don’t think she’s dead. I… don’t know where she is. She’s stuck somewhere,” Glimmer looked to the Moonstone as she explained her situation.

“Well…” Felinia gently clasped her hands together and looked to the floor. “I don’t want to assume anything… But if she has… passed away, then… Well, my curse only brings back those who are truly dead. So…”

Glimmer looked to Felinia for a few seconds, before her eyes widened immensely and she felt her mind flood with thoughts of Angella. However, she was soon overcome with thoughts of anger as she stepped up to Felinia. “You… How dare…” Glimmer tried to force any words out, but they were all clumped up in her throat as she stared daggers at Felinia.

She soon simply walked pass Felinia, shaking her head. She refused to believe that Felinia’s curse would bring back Angella.

She never wanted to know of Angella’s fate. Glimmer had already resigned herself to accepting that mystery of Angella’s disappearance, so now that she was faced with the possibility of truly discovering whether she was dead or not, Glimmer was mad. She was upset.

But most of all, she was afraid.


	6. Grief

For the first time in a while, Adora was the first to awaken that morning.

She blinked as she stared up at the ceiling, seeing just the slim light of morning slowly pierce into the room. She looked over to her side to see Catra facing towards her, her eyes closed and soft snores emanating from her. She looked peaceful.

Adora smiled at the sleeping Catra and leaned over, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and planting them on the floor. She knew there was no chance to getting back to sleep, so she figured an early morning walk around Bright Moon might do some good. Especially considering everything that had been going on recently.

Adora got into her usual outfit and left her room, opening and shutting the door behind her as quietly as she could. She walked down the hall towards the balcony, hoping to get a bit of fresh, morning air in.

However, when she rounded a corner towards the balcony, she saw that Felinia was already standing there.

She was looking up to the sky, her hands on the balcony railing as Adora approached her from behind. Felinia was able to hear Adora’s footsteps and turned around. Her look of worry was soon replaced with warmth as she smiled at Adora. “Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too,” Adora returned as she stood alongside Felinia. “How long have you been up?”

“A couple of hours. I love watching the stars as the world slowly lights up,” Felinia admitted as Adora looked up at the sky as well. “I just think they’re so beautiful. Space is just… there. It’s so huge and fascinating… There are whole other worlds out there, just like ours. There are stories behind each of those stars. It’s just…” Felinia sighed happily. “It’s wonderful.”

“Well, with enough luck, I think you’ll be seeing those stars up close soon. I’ll make it my personal goal to get you up there,” Adora declared.

“Thank you. Although, Catra has already promised me we would go to space together…” Felinia’s smile slowly faded as she spoke. “Though… I doubt she wants to go anywhere with me right now.”

Adora shared a sad, empathetic look with Felinia before they continued to look at the early morning sky. “I’m sorry things haven’t been easy for you, Felinia. You’ve been gone from your sister for so long, and now…”

“You don’t have to feel pity for me. I brought this on myself. I don’t blame Catra a single bit for being mad at me,” Felinia shook her head. “I just feel bad about Mara… I don’t know what to do with her. She’s the previous She-Ra. What do you think?”

“I think…” Adora sighed. “I… don’t know what to think, really. You say the only way to get rid of her is to kill her, but… I could never bring myself to do that. Mara never wanted to be a martyr. She never wanted to die. Her life was so… so unfair. Now she has a chance at a normal life, and… It’d tear me apart to take that from her.”

“… I get where you’re coming from,” Felinia nodded, “killing these clones has never been easy for me, even after all these years. I don’t take it lightly. But… they’re not the real person, Adora. The real Mara won’t know any of this is happening. It hurts, but… the only thing that can keep me sane is that they’re not real. Not really.”

“I know… But…” Adora’s voice choked up, and she swallowed. “I just… I want to think things through about Mara. She’s only been back for so long. I just… don’t want to kill her. Maybe it’s selfish.”

“It’s not selfish,” Felinia shook her head. “You have every single reason to want Mara to still be here. All I ask is that you just think on it. I’m not asking you to do the deed personally. I would never burden you with that. But… I just need you think if it’s okay. I won’t make the decision for you. You have the most connection with Mara.”

“Thanks, Felinia,” Adora looked down at the Whispering Woods. “I just… feel bad. I’m over here moping about a Mara clone and you… Everything you’re going through with Catra…”

“No one’s suffering should be invalidated just because someone else might be having it worse, Adora. Your sadness is okay. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Felinia looked directly at Adora.

“If it’s any consolation… You’re not alone,” Adora said. “Catra and I went through a similar thing… We constantly fought each other for years. I left the Horde when I found the sword that turned me into She-Ra. Catra wanted me to stay with the Horde, but I… I couldn’t. Not after everything I saw them do. We were on opposite sides of a war. I thought we’d never be with each other again. Every time I saw her… I thought she despised my existence. And I think she thought the same of me.”

Felinia looked at her hands as Adora spoke. “But… she’s changed now,” Felinia commented.

“Yeah. And I am so proud of her. I’ve loved her for a long time. Yeah, she’s easily agitated and she can be a bit snarky… But that’s a part of who she is. I wouldn’t trade her for the world. Every part of her is beautiful to me. Given enough time, I’m sure Catra will warm up to you. You’re trying. I’m sure she’ll recognize it soon enough,” Adora smiled at Felinia.

“I… never knew of the things Catra did in the Horde. I always thought she was being tortured… It ate away at me every single day. But now… I just feel even more guilt for letting her fall into darkness,” Felinia hung her head. Adora reached out a hand and placed it on Felinia’s back, stroking it in circles.

“You can’t blame yourself for all of Catra’s actions, Felinia. She went through a lot that you couldn’t control,” Adora comforted.

“I gave her to the Horde. I… led her into that life. It’s just…” Felinia choked on her words, but simply let them out in a sigh, closing her eyes tightly. “I promised to be her superhero. I promised I would rescue her. And I failed.”

Adora kept rubbing Felinia’s back in comfort, but she was really at a loss for words. She truly had no idea what to say to Felinia. “I’m sorry,” were the only words she could force out.

“… But I’m thankful for you, Adora. I couldn’t keep my promise, but you… you were the superhero. You saved my sister from that darkness,” Felinia looked up at the blonde girl and was able to smile. “I could never thank you enough. You did what… what I failed to do. I’ll always be in your debt.”

“I appreciate it, but… I can’t take the credit. Catra really pushed herself to right her wrongs and she strived to be a better person. I helped her, but…” Adora smiled at the sky. “She’s so strong. I’ll always be proud of her for making that change. I’m not the one who saved her. She saved herself. We just supported each other along the way.”

Felinia looked up at Adora for a few seconds, studying her smile as the world slowly lit up more and more. Before she could continue, Felinia and Adora both heard stomping coming towards their way from the halls.

“Glimmer, it’s not her fault!” Bow’s voice sounded as he and Glimmer rounded the corner towards the balcony. Glimmer’s eyes were locked with Felinia’s, and pure rage was filled in them. Bow walked alongside Glimmer, talking to her and trying to stop her.

When Glimmer stormed up to Felinia, she suddenly grabbed Felinia by her tattered shirt and smashed her against a nearby wall. Felinia felt air leave her lungs from the impact, and she gasped for oxygen as Glimmer held her tight against the wall. “Just who do you think you are?! Is this some sick, twisted game to you?!” Glimmer screamed in Felinia’s face.

“Glimmer, stop!” Adora put a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, but it was violently shoved off.

“Don’t even try to stop me!” Glimmer seethed at Adora before turning back to Felinia. “I know both of you feel sorry for her, but I see through that act! First Mara, and now her?!”

Felinia was still gasping for air after being winded from Glimmer’s attack, and her lack of a response only served to enrage Glimmer even more. “ANSWER ME!” Glimmer screamed her lungs out.

And suddenly, a gentle hand was placed on Glimmer’s shoulder. “Let her go, Glimmer.”

The voice was familiar. It had been so long since Adora last heard it, but it instantly shot electricity into her spine as she turned to see who had placed a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder.

It was Angella.

Adora took a step back, feeling her breath leave her body as she looked at the previous queen of Bright Moon. The woman who had sacrificed everything and was presumed to be dead. Angella kept a gentle hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, the latter of which was hanging her head low as she grit her teeth.

“Is… Are you…” Adora felt words leave her mouth, but none of them could form into a coherent sentence. Instead, she looked to Felinia, who after recovering her breath, could only look at her feet in guilt. “If… If Angella was brought back by Felinia’s curse, then…”

“SHUT UP!” Glimmer suddenly screamed, shooting her death stare towards Adora.

“Glimmer!” Bow spoke in a stern tone as Glimmer shrugged Angella’s hand off her shoulder.

At that moment, Adora saw Catra come towards the balcony and saw her eyes widen upon seeing Angella. Almost instantly, those eyes shot to Felinia. “Again?!” Catra snapped.

“I… overheard Glimmer talking about Angella last night…” Felinia spoke in a weak, soft voice. “I didn’t want this to happen… But if she’s here because of my curse, then…”

“She’s not dead! She can’t die! That’s impossible!” Glimmer yelled at Felinia. “You’re not telling us everything! You’re just trying to mess with our heads for some sick, twisted amusement of yours! You’re a psychopath! You should’ve never come back!”

Before Felinia could respond, Glimmer suddenly vanished from Bright Moon, teleporting away. “Glimmer!” Angella cried out. She soon left the balcony, going to chase after Glimmer and leaving behind Adora, Bow, Catra and Felinia.

Felinia could only sink, sliding her back down the wall and curling up into a fetal position and she looked at her feet. “I’m sorry…”

“And is ‘sorry’ going to fix this?” Catra asked. “First you overheard me and Adora talking about Mara, then Horde Prime nearly kills her, and now you overhear Glimmer talking about her dead mother! I mean, what is wrong with you?! I get that you can’t control this but why can’t you just leave people alone?! You know how bad your curse is!”

“I… I didn’t mean to, I just… I haven’t talked to people in so long…” Felinia spoke in a shuddering voice, refusing to look at Catra.

“Catra, come on. She’s had enough,” Bow spoke, but Catra ignored her.

“You know, I’m trying. I’m really trying to just… still comprehend the fact I have a sister in the first place. But you keep bringing along problems! And if all you bring along with you is misery and pain, then you should…” Catra took a few shaky breaths. “You should just go.”

“Catra, stop!” Adora snapped. “Look at her! She’s miserable! Leave her alone!”

“I’ll leave her alone when she stops screwing with our lives!” Catra yelled back at her girlfriend.

“So are you just going to give up on her because of a few mistakes?!” Adora asked.

“They aren’t just simple mistakes! She’s bringing back the dead! She’s made Glimmer suffer and she brought back the previous She-Ra! Her mistakes are causing everyone pain!”

“Well if you’re going to give up on Felinia like that, then I guess I should have given up on you long ago!” Adora suddenly yelled at Catra, silencing her as Adora panted. “Catra… You’re a different person now… And I get that you’re going through a lot… But you have absolutely NO right to berate her.”

Catra looked at Adora for a few seconds, before shaking her head, taking a few steps back. “So that’s how it is. I’m still some monster to you. Nothing’s changed.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Adora spoke.

“Just… forget it, Adora. I see it now. I’m always going to be that girl from the Horde to you,” Catra sighed, before turning and walking away from Adora.

“Catra!” Adora called out, but she already knew Catra was gone. She let out a frustrated sigh as Felinia looked up at Adora, her eyes wide with horror.

“Are… Are you two going to be okay…? Did I just ruin…?” Felinia spoke with a weak voice, but Adora shook her head.

“We’ll… We’ll be alright eventually. I think Catra just needs time to collect her thoughts. Don’t blame yourself, Felinia. I chose to defend you. I don’t regret it either,” Adora looked down at the hunched-up girl. “I just… maybe should’ve worded things differently.”

Felinia looked sadly at Adora, before hanging her head and hugging her knees tighter to her chest as Adora sat with her.

“I’m sorry…”

* * *

Everything had become a complete blur for Glimmer as she walked aimlessly through the Whispering Woods.

She could barely see straight as she simply watched the ground pass by her wandering feet. She could barley even breathe. None of this felt real. She couldn’t process a single thought.

“Glimmer! Glimmer, where are you?!” She heard her mother’s voice calling her name, and just wanted to run away even more. She put her hands over her ears, refusing to listen. But her eyes did not fail her as she looked up and saw Angella.

“I was getting worried,” Angella spoke as she smiled upon seeing Glimmer. However, that smile was only met with tears forming in Glimmer’s eyes.

“Go away! You’re not real!” Glimmer shook her head, shutting her eyes tight. Angella sighed sadly as she took gentle steps towards Glimmer, unsure if she would be able to place a hand on her shoulder or not.

“It pains me to see you like this. Is there anything I can do to help?” Angella asked.

“Why?!” Glimmer cried, looking up at Angella with tears streaming down her eyes. “You said you wouldn’t leave me! You can’t die! This is impossible! Why did you lie to me?!” Glimmer screamed, pounding her fists against Angella’s chest with each word as she simply let her tears flow. “I grieved for you! But… I always thought you’d come back… Just not like this…”

Angella raised a hand and placed it on the back of Glimmer’s head, stroking her hair as Glimmer let loose sobs of agony. “The circumstances of my demise… Were beyond any comprehensible thought. I was without the Moonstone. I had… absolutely nothing. I simply remember eternal nothingness… But I look around at this world now and I see my sacrifice was not in vain.”

“… It was,” Glimmer mumbled. “You left behind a useless daughter who could never amount to you. I’m a worthless queen. No… I can’t even call myself a queen. I can’t call myself… anything.”

“Glimmer…” Angella sighed. “I’m not sure how to respond. I haven’t seen much of the world just yet. All I know is that I cannot let my daughter cry without being here for her. If you want me around… I will be here for you now for as long as you need. I’m… so sorry I left you alone.”

“… I wasn’t alone,” Glimmer shook her head. “I had my friends… I had dad…”

“You… your father? Micah?” Angella asked, looking down at Glimmer. “You don’t mean…”

“He’s… He’s alive,” Glimmer explained to Angella. “We found him on Beast Island…”

Angella could only look down at Glimmer in shock. Her eyes remained wide as she tried to form the right words to say, and yet none came to mind. She simply looked at Glimmer, and Glimmer could feel tears build up again. “And I… I’ve let him down… I’ve let everyone down over and over again…”

“G… Glimmer, stop! You can’t say such things,” Angella shook her head, trying to be there for her daughter despite her mind racing with a million thoughts. “No matter what has happened that I’m unaware of… I can tell everyone still cares about you deeply. I’m so proud of you. I don’t doubt that you are a wonderful queen, even if you may think otherwise.”

Glimmer slowly stepped away from Angella and shook her head. “No… I’ll never be as wonderful as you are. As you… were.”

With that, Glimmer walked away from Angella. Her mother wanted to give chase, but she felt her legs stiffen as she simply watched Glimmer walk away. Her mind was consumed with racing thoughts as she held onto her own wrist and looked down at the floor.

“Micah…”

* * *

It’s likely that no words were shared among anyone else for the rest of the day at Bright Moon.

Catra had locked herself away in her room, left with thoughts of her past and her sister. Felinia sat in the library, guilt flooding her mind and body. Glimmer was left in her own room with her own thoughts and grief. Angella wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but even she was overcome with the shock of her husband being alive. Bow simply sat in Glimmer’s room, wordlessly giving her company.

Adora had mostly been going through plans for the upcoming Princess Prom. No one else felt up to it, so she decided to take it upon herself for the day. She felt like she had made enough progress with invitations and such when the world started to go dark yet again, and night rolled around.

She wanted to go and speak with Catra, but every time she thought about doing it, her heart told her it wasn’t the right time. She didn’t even know if she could sleep in the same bed as Catra that night. She felt like she wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone for a while.

Except for one person.

Adora stood outside the guest room she had put Mara in the previous night. She hadn’t seen Mara all day, but she figured Mara was the only person she could have a conversation with at the moment. And Adora herself was desperate for some positive company.

Adora knocked on Mara’s bedroom door. “Come in!” Mara quickly spoke, and Adora pushed the door open, stepping in to find Mara looking out her window to the sky. “Hey there.”

“Hey,” Adora smiled. “It’s good to see you.”

“I hear some rough stuff happened today. Are you okay?” Mara asked.

“Been better. But I think we’ll be alright,” Adora sighed, going over to Mara as she closed the door. “What’re you looking at?”

“The stars,” Mara smiled. “They look the same as when I knew them. Before I… took them away.”

“You did what you had to,” Adora comforted her as she joined Mara, looking through the window at the speckles of light in the dark sky. “You sacrificed… so much. I really have come to admire you, Mara.”

“Please… I appreciate it, but I really just want to be your friend, Adora. Not an icon to worship,” Mara shook her head, smiling at Adora. “You’re a hero, Adora. I have a lot of respect for you. But I really like you as a person. Not just because you’re She-Ra.”

“Thanks,” Adora smiled. “I think you’re amazing too. You’re so kind and caring… I… I wish I could’ve been there for you somehow all those years ago. What you went through… You didn’t deserve it.”

Mara smiled sadly at Adora, before going over to her bed and taking a seat. “I don’t want to let what the First Ones did to me define me. I don’t want to be that poor, tragic girl. I just want to be Mara… I don’t want to let my pain define me.”

“I get it. I’m sorry if I’ve accidentally hurt you with my words,” Adora apologized but Mara instantly shook her head.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I was just telling you. I… no longer want to let She-Ra tie me down. That’s all I ask,” Mara explained. “Did you come here for a reason, Adora?”

“Not particularly. I just needed someone to talk to. Everyone… Everyone’s going through a lot. I don’t blame a single one of them for just wanting time to themselves. Even I feel confused… But I just wanted to talk to someone, really. I’m not bugging you, am I?” Adora asked.

“No. On the contrary, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while now. You say you’re confused. Is it because of me?” Mara asked. “I promise I won’t be upset if you say yes.”

“… Yeah. It’s… seeing you again that’s got me in a weird state of mind. The power of She-Ra has done so many amazing things for me… It’s helped me so much. But… it was a different case for you. It caused you so much pain and agony. And… I don’t know if I’m allowed to feel happy with She-Ra if it caused so much suffering to you,” Adora explained, her throat tight as she spoke. She could barely bring herself to look Mara in the eye.

However, she soon saw Mara’s hands slowly rest on her own, holding onto them gently. “Adora… I’m so grateful you think of me and consider me so much in your feelings. But you mustn’t allow yourself to become so guilty because of me. I don’t want to burden you. You are an amazing woman and what you’ve accomplished is wonderful. I have nothing but respect for you. I never once thought you were selfish or inconsiderate. You used the power of She-Ra in the way it was meant to be used. I… was held down by forces I couldn’t control.”

Adora held Mara’s hand back and sighed. “You deserved so much better, Mara… She-Ra is meant for good and you weren’t even given a chance. It’s not fair. I… wish I could just go back and just… be there.”

Mara chuckled slightly. “Whilst I would’ve appreciated that… It’s not like I was totally alone in misery. I mean, I had Light Hope!” Mara smiled.

Upon hearing that name, Adora felt a whole wave of guilt crash down on her.

“She and I just… really connected. I… really looked up to her,” Mara smiled, a light blush forming on her cheeks. “I know it sounds dumb… I mean, she’s just a program. But she meant so much to me. I… I loved her. She was there for me.”

Adora couldn’t look into Mara’s eyes. Her heart was racing.

“Say, uh… You’ve met Light Hope yourself, right? How’s she doing these days?” Mara asked gently. Adora felt like she was choking. She wanted to disappear at that very moment, but she knew there was no escape. She knew this had to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

“Mara…” Adora squeezed Mara’s hands and used all of her will to look her in the eye. “Light Hope is… gone.”

Mara’s smile slowly faded as she looked at Adora. It was replaced with confusion. “What… What do you mean? Gone?”

“She… she was part of the reason we went back to the stars. She was stuck between her programming of activating the Heart of Etheria… And her love for you,” Adora spoke sadly. “She… ultimately chose the latter. I destroyed the sword because she gave me the chance. She chose you over what she was programmed for. She… loved you so, so much.”

Mara stared at Adora for a while. She was completely lost in Adora’s words, and her hands slowly slipped away from Adora’s. “I…” Mara whispered, but no other words came out.

“I’m so sorry, Mara…” Adora shook her head. “Do… Do you need some time alone?”

Mara looked at the floor, but she eventually nodded, her face still locked in pure shock as Adora stood up and headed for the door. She opened it, and froze in her path. She couldn’t just leave Mara like this. Adora didn’t want another person to just feel burdened with misery. She thought for a few seconds, before turning to Mara.

“If you’re up for it tomorrow, I’d like to take you somewhere,” Adora spoke. Mara looked up at her.

“Where?” Mara asked. Adora smiled. Maybe with this, Mara would at least have something to look forward to.

“It’s a surprise. But… There’s a pie waiting for you there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just quickly like to say two things.
> 
> First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with this story. It means a lot to have so much support and love from you all, especially since I was so nervous to write something like this. I know OC-focused stories tend to be a bit dull, but I wanted to write this story more than anything. I pride myself on writing what I love. It means so much that other people find enjoyment in it too.
> 
> Secondly, I'd like to address Angella. Her fate in the show is a rather complicated one, because she shouldn't really be classified as 'dead', due to her immortality. However, the She-Ra wiki lists her status as either 'Stuck between dimensions' or 'deceased'. Ultimately, I'm going with the latter, as Felinia's curse only brings back those who are well and truly dead. It's a decision I made in order to deal with Glimmer's character and her arc in this story. I'm aware that it is a debatable topic, but I'm hoping it doesn't taint the story for anyone. if it does, I'm sorry. 
> 
> However, if you choose to stick with this story nonetheless, you have a world of thanks from me. I really, really appreciate it :)
> 
> Looking forward to releasing more chapters for y'all!


	7. The Dead Speak

Catra had her back turned on Adora that entire night.

Even when Adora woke that next morning, she turned to see Catra still facing away from her. She let out a small sigh, knowing Catra would be like this after their argument the previous day. Adora was at least thankful that Catra stayed in the same bed as her.

The day was bright by the time Adora had showered and gotten into some clothes. She knew Catra was awake and pretending to be asleep, but she decided to avoid pointing it out. Whether Catra’s outburst was justified or not, that didn’t change the fact she was going through a lot. It was hard to blame her.

Adora left her room and found Bright Moon to still be as quiet as it was yesterday. The effects of yesterday’s events still rung throughout the halls as Adora’s footsteps were the only sounds echoing and bouncing off the walls.

Adora approached Mara’s room and raised a fist, giving a few knocks. Considering what she had heard about Light Hope the previous night, Adora understood if Mara didn’t feel up for anything today. She waited a few seconds and was ready to leave before Mara answered.

“Come in! Sorry, I was just getting changed!” Mara called from inside the room. Adora gave out a small sigh of relief and opened the door to find Mara inspecting herself in a nearby mirror as she tied her hair up into a waist-length braid. “Good morning, Adora.”

“Good morning to you too,” Adora smiled as she stood by the door. “How are you feeling? You know we don’t have to go anywhere today, right? I don’t want to force you if you’re still processing everything about Light Hope…”

Mara’s hands froze as she held onto her hair, her eyes directed towards the floor upon hearing that name. She sighed, before shaking her head. “I’ll be alright. I reckon she’d want me to go out and get some fresh air. It’s… It’s a lot to process. But I won’t be making any progress just laying around here all day. That’s not me.”

“I’m really proud of you, Mara. I was worried with telling you about Light Hope that you’d be upset at me,” Adora admitted as Mara finished up her hair, approaching Adora with a smile.

“Well, you know… I’d rather know the blunt truth than be lied to. I spent… almost my whole life living a lie. The last thing I want is more of them piling up,” Mara said, her voice trailing off as she gazed at the floor, her thoughts being directed at a difficult past. Adora noticed her wandering eyes, and placed a hand on Mara’s shoulder suddenly, snapping her back to reality.

“I promise, there will be nothing but the truth between us, okay? Now let’s go. I’ve been excited to show you this place. I think you’ll love it,” Adora smiled as she walked on ahead, waving a hand for Mara to follow her.

It was a peaceful and beautiful day as Adora and Mara left for the Whispering Woods. The world lit up and highlighted the green of the forest, and how alive everything was now that the planet was saved. For Mara, it almost looked the same as always.

“Now if I remember correctly, it shouldn’t be too far…” Adora spoke as she walked ahead of Mara, trying to remember her directions. In the meantime, she still decided to talk. “So how are things going with you? Like… this is a really confusing situation, but you seem to be going with it.”

“It is bizarre, isn’t it?” Mara chuckled. “To be honest, the thing I’ve most struggled with is how to act around Felinia. Should I thank her for bringing me back? It’s not like it was her choice, right? Plus, because of her curse, I’ve been feeling… a lot more melancholic than usual. It’s like there’s some layer of sadness on my heart that I just can’t get out… And I think it’s because of how we share emotions.”

“It’s hard to blame her for any of that though, is it? Catra and Glimmer are treating her harshly but… I can’t help but feel sorry for her. She’s completely isolated herself for the last two decades. I can tell she’s trying… She’s just making a lot of mistakes,” Adora commented.

“I suppose I should talk to her at some point, though I think that’ll just make her… uncomfortable,” Mara sighed, “the one time we’ve talked is when she came to me a couple of days ago and apologized to me. I wasn’t sure what she was sorry about until she explained her curse… I think I’m on your side of things. She’s really having a rough time and she needs all the help she can get.”

“I just hope Catra comes around,” Adora said.

A few more minutes of wandering passed, before Adora finally perked up. “Oh! Here we are! Mara, close your eyes!” Adora commanded.

Mara hesitated for a few seconds, before trusting in Adora and shutting her eyes as Adora grabbed her wrist, dragging her a few steps and being careful not to run Mara into anything. “Wait, are you leading me into some gigantic flower field? Because I will love you for eternity if you’re doing that.”

“No, but I’ll keep that in mind for future reference,” Adora smirked as she finally came to stop. “Alright Mara… Open your eyes and try not to pass out.”

Mara slowly raised her eyelids, looking up at the sight before her. A spaceship that was almost instantly recognizable, parked on an open piece of land in the Whispering Woods. Mara put her hands over her mouth as she gazed upon the ship, and she gasped in joy as she looked at Adora. “It’s still here?!”

“We found it a while back, along with your message. So I guess we can conclude that this…” Adora gestured her hand towards the spaceship, “is yours?”

Mara nodded as she stepped towards the ship, looking around and almost hesitating to step inside. “This is the ship Light Hope and I used…” Mara commented as she approached the door, Adora following in behind her.

When Mara entered, she looked around the interior. “It almost looks the exact same… Though I can tell it was used recently.”

“Yeah, well… We kinda needed to make a stop in space to rescue our friends and all. Hope you don’t mind. Oh, and for future reference, a friend of ours decided to name the ship Darla,” Adora chuckled awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head, but Mara shook her head in response as she continued to gaze around the space.

“If a ship hasn’t been used in a thousand years, I think it’s free for anyone. And I love the name,” Mara shrugged with a smile. Adora laughed for a bit, before suddenly clapping her hands together.

“Oh! Before I forget…” Adora mumbled as she went to the back part of the ship where rations are stored. She talked to herself in the other room for a few seconds as she searched around, Mara taking a seat in the pilot’s chair in the meantime before Adora suddenly cried out, “there it is!”

Mara turned to find Adora emerging from the rations room, carrying a small plate in her hand. And in that plate…

“Here. A pie for you, Mara. Its been waiting for a while.”

Adora offered the pie towards Mara, who stared at it in bewilderment as she slowly took it in her hands. “This… seems familiar…”

“Well, if you remember, we both had to help a certain old lady gather some ingredients for it. And she left it on that exact chair for you. I wasn’t sure why we saved it at first… But I guess I always had a feeling it was meant just for you and no one else,” Adora smiled as Mara stared down at the pie in her hands.

“Madame Razz…” Mara whispered to herself, a small smile appearing on her face. “I should really pay a visit to her soon and see how she’s doing… You don’t want any of this?” Mara asked, offering some of the pie to Adora.

“It’s a pie for Mara. Not a pie for Adora’s grubby little hands,” Adora said. She took a seat next to Mara as the woman took a single bite of the pie, her eyes widening at the taste as she chewed on it.

“Well, what do you know? Madame Razz is a pretty good cook,” Mara complimented as she finally ate the pie that had been meant for her for so long. Adora couldn’t help but smile as Mara dug in, but eventually, the smile faded.

In the end, this wasn’t the real Mara. A mere clone made by a curse. Therefore, did she even have the right to have this pie? Was it okay to bring her to a ship where the real Mara died? Adora had been questioning these things for hours now, and yet no conclusion was in sight.

“I wish I could share this with Light Hope somehow,” Mara sighed. “I mean, she can’t eat but… I’m sure we’d find a way. We always did.”

Adora looked to Mara, and saw that even though she was smiling, her lips were beginning to wobble. Tears soon formed in Mara’s eyes as she held the pie in her hands, and Adora slowly placed a hand on Mara’s shoulder, comforting her. “I think she’d like that.”

“It just…” Mara shuddered. “It wasn’t fair. She and I loved each other so much and… that love was taken away. Now we can’t have it ever again. The First Ones… All they did was take away everything that was beautiful about life. And I let them do that for so long… I just wanted a normal life and I... I didn’t want to die in this ship…”

Mara let out her first sob as Adora continued to rub her shoulder, trying to find the right words to say. “I’m sorry, Mara… and I’m sorry I nearly threw my life away when you went through something like this. If it hadn’t been for you and Catra, I…” Adora sighed. “I was so selfish…”

“Adora… I don’t blame you for wanting to save the world and your friends. I find that so admirable about you. But I just wanted you to live your best life as well,” Mara said, looking at Adora. “I’m proud of you for finding a way to live.”

“I…” Adora chokes for a bit, before shaking her head. “I just wish the same applied for you, Mara…”

“Hey,” Mara put her hand over Adora’s on her shoulder, speaking softly. “It’s okay, Adora. You’re living for both of us now. I’m happy that you represent what She-Ra is truly meant to be. I would say I’m happy to be alive again, but… these are weird circumstances.”

“Speaking of She-Ra, I’ve actually been wondering…” Adora looked up to Mara. “Can you still transform at all?”

“I… I’m not sure. I haven’t tried,” Mara shook her head, before letting out a deep breath. “I don’t really want to, either. I… I never want to transform into She-Ra again. I know it sounds selfish, but… I never wanted to be her. I never wanted that burden on my life. I never wanted to have that weight. So… I made a vow a couple of days back. Unless I desperately need to… I want to avoid becoming She-Ra at all costs. Because… all it ever brought me was pain.”

Adora didn’t hesitate to nod her head. “I completely understand, Mara. I will never pressure you. You deserve to be just Mara. Not ‘the previous She-Ra’. I promise, I won’t ever let that weight burden you. You won’t have to become She-Ra on my watch,” Adora grinned with a thumbs up.

Mara chuckled a bit, before displaying a warm smile. “I appreciate it, Adora. Although, you say that like I’m going to be around for ages. I mean… let’s be realistic here. How long does everyone expect me to stick around for? I… I’m just a clone. Felinia mentioned that to get rid of me would mean killing me. And…” Mara swallowed, her hands shaking slightly. “That… scares me.”

Adora narrowed her eyebrows. “You’re still afraid of dying?”

“Pathetic, right?” Mara chuckled. “I mean… I’ve died once before. And I don’t think you can call… whatever this is, alive. And yet… I’m terrified to die. Just like when I was on this ship a thousand years back. I was so scared, I cried. Death… terrifies me. And I don’t want to go through it again. But that’s a selfish decision to make, isn’t it?”

Adora looked to Mara and shook her head. “Being scared of death is normal, I think. There’s nothing wrong with it. And… Well, so far, you haven’t caused any issues. On the contrary, you’re the only person keeping me sane this past day. Everyone else is going through so much… it’s nice to have someone to talk to. I was wondering what we were going to do with you when you first came back… But I think I’ve made up my mind mostly.”

“And what’s your decision?” Mara asked.

“… I don’t want you to go,” Adora admitted. “I… I keep thinking about the life you had. How unfair it was. How much better you deserved. Now here you are, having pie on your old ship in the middle of some beautiful woods. Maybe you’re hollow, but… you’re Mara to me. And I think you deserve a better chance at life. Just like how Catra earned a second chance at happiness. So if they decide they want to kill you… I won’t let them.”

Mara looked at Adora for a few silent seconds after she finished speaking, and slowly, she reached out, taking Adora’s hand in her own. “… I guess we’re pretty selfish, huh? Because… I don’t want to go either. I want to live and be happy this time.”

Adora scoffed, squeezing Mara’s hand tight. “Maybe we are selfish. But dammit, we can be selfish together. I want to see that smile of yours every day, Mara. You deserve to be happy and love life.”

And on that ship, the selfish She-Ra’s shared a pie together, and chose life yet again.

* * *

It almost seemed like yesterday that Angella scolded Glimmer for launching an unnecessary attack against the Horde whilst she sat on that very throne.

Angella looked up to the throne she used to sit in for official business. Though, to be honest, she never was a very big fan of it. It wasn’t the most comfortable chair ever. Still, the power it held was undeniable.

She had been standing in the throne room for the last fifteen minutes, and Glimmer had been watching her for the last five. She had been hesitating to speak to her mother since yesterday, since she had no idea what to even say.

But it was going to happen eventually. Angella wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Glimmer slowly approached the throne, and her footsteps echoed throughout the room, alerting Angella to her presence. The older woman smiled warmly at seeing her daughter, turning to face her. “Good afternoon, Glimmer. How are you feeling?”

It was a simple question, and yet there was no simple answer that came to Glimmer’s mind. She was approaching her mother, who was merely a hollow clone brought about by a wicked curse. She had a thousand words to say, and yet none of them would be right. So instead, she avoided the subject as she nodded to the throne. “Are you thinking of taking back the role of Queen?”

Angella smiled, a few warm chuckles coming from her as she shook her head. “My time as Queen has come to an end, Glimmer. That throne is for you. Even if I could take it back, I wouldn’t want to. I have faith you are bringing pride to Bright Moon, just like I thought you would.”

Glimmer sighed as she approached the throne. She looked up at the mighty place she had barely sat in since she became Queen. She attempted to turn around and make eye contact with Angella, but every time she tried, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Are… Are you sure, mom? I mean… You’re such a wonderful Queen…”

Angella let out a sad sigh. “I’m quite sure. My current state is… complex. But the fact is, I am longer with this world. Bright Moon cannot be ruled by a… a hollow being.”

“But you were incredible!” Glimmer suddenly cried out. “You made so many people happy and you were always so direct and wonderful and… I’m nothing like that! Nothing!” She finally began to face Angella, but this time, she had tears welling in her eyes. “I was nearly responsible for the destruction of this planet! I’ve made so, so many bad choices in such a short span of time! I could never protect my people like you did!”

“Glimmer…” Angella spoke softly, but her daughter wasn’t done.

“I hate how much suffering I brought about! I hate how miserable I make people! I hate the fact that you’re not here anymore! I hate…” Glimmer choked on a sob, gripping her wrist tight as her lips wobbled. “I hate myself…”

Angella looked down at Glimmer in silence, her daughter’s tears staining the floor. “If you were here, everything would be better. It… It should’ve been me. I should’ve been the one to give up my life. At least that way, we’d still have you and be confident. I…”

Glimmer was cut off as she felt Angella’s arms slowly wrap around her, pulling her close for a gentle hug. Angella’s hand ran through Glimmer’s hair, and it immediately sent a plethora of memories and nostalgia into Glimmer’s mind. Years of love, arguments and connection with her mother came rushing back at the feeling of her mother’s hand running through her silky smooth hair.

This only served to make Glimmer sob louder as she held onto Angella’s long, blue cape tightly. “Do you remember my greatest mistake, Glimmer?” Angella asked.

“… The battle you ordered that ‘killed’ dad and split the Princess Alliance,” Glimmer answered.

“I had been ruling for quite a while when that happened, but I don’t think I ever forgave myself for it,” Angella admitted. “I was devastated. Losing the man I love hurt… But it also hurt that I thought I had taken away your father. I blamed myself for years. And I was a coward for so many years after. It was the greatest regret of my life.”

“But… dad’s alive now,” Glimmer responded.

“Whilst that may be true, it does not change the fact that I let my grief lead the alliance into a long stage of hiding. I was responsible for letting the Horde hurt so many because I had just… given up. I had become a coward,” Angella’s voice trailed off for a few seconds, before she shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is… Even as Queen, I made grave mistakes. At the end of the day, we still have a soul. And a soul is a flawed thing. No Queen is expected to be absolutely perfect, Glimmer. I am not some standard you need to live up to.”

“But… my mistakes were so terrible…” Glimmer sobbed.

“As were mine. And I’m sure if you were to ask any of the other Princesses, they could list their greatest mistakes as well. It’s easy to let those mistakes take over everything else. After all, no one is a harsher critic of you than your own self. But you mustn’t ignore the good you have done as well, Glimmer. I look around at a beautiful world, and I know that you helped in building it alongside some wonderful friends you made, and an alliance you helped reform after I failed to uphold it.”

Glimmer struggled to find a way to respond, and Angella could tell. She held Glimmer closer, and whispered. “I am so, so proud of you, Glimmer. I always have been and I always will be. But I didn’t have you just so you could be a great Queen some day. I had you because I wanted you to lead a happy and wonderful life.”

Glimmer choked up for a few seconds, and let out a shaky sigh. “Even though this… isn’t really you… I still think I needed those words…” Glimmer admitted. “And I treated Felinia like crap after you came back. But now… I just want you here. Not as a Queen, but… just as my mom.”

“For as long as you need me, I will be here,” Angella smiled, running her hand through Glimmer’s hair one last time. Glimmer felt tingles all throughout her spine, and they exploded into beautiful laughter as she wiped her eyes clean of tears.

“I guess we should probably tell dad about all this soon,” Glimmer said. “He’s in Mystacor at the moment with Castaspella, but I think we should go see him.”

“I…” Angella stuttered for a few moments, and she put on a smile, albeit an awkward one. “Whilst that sounds wonderful, are we quite sure it’s alright to see him in… this state? It’s not like I’m really alive…”

Glimmer felt her smile fade. It’s not like she disagreed with her mother, but it was difficult to face that truth. This wasn’t Angella. Micah had already grieved for his wife. “… It was just a dumb suggestion. Forget it,” Glimmer sighed.

“Now hold on,” Angella interrupted. “I… I’m not completely refusing. Just… perhaps we should give it time. How is he, anyway? He hasn’t… forgotten about me, has he?”

Glimmer chuckled slightly as she shook her head. “I think that’s impossible. He always loved you, and I think he always will love you. You’re his world. I can tell he misses you.”

Angella looked down at Glimmer and smiled, but soon enough, even her lips began to wobble as she felt stinging tears form in her eyes. Wordlessly, Angella held onto Glimmer again, and the two of them embraced closely as they both sobbed. Angella tried to quiet her sounds, but it was to no avail.

But hearing her mother cry just made Glimmer all the more glad that she was back. And she never wanted to let go.

* * *

Adora was so lost in conversation and exploring with Mara that she was surprised when night began to roll about. She and Mara had arrived back at Bright Moon just when it began to go dark, and as they wished each other a good night, Adora knew she had one more issue to face on that day.

She approached her and Catra’s bedroom. In her stomach, she almost feared she’d open the door to find Catra gone without even leaving a note. She hesitated to open the door because of this. What if she had disappeared for good this time?

But eventually, she came to the conclusion that she’d never know unless she opened this door. And so, Adora turned the knob, and suddenly barged in.

She glanced to the bed to find that Catra wasn’t even there, and Adora almost felt her heart sink to her stomach.

Adora quickly scanned the rest of the room. “Catra? Are you here?” Adora asked, slowly entering. There was no way she had ran away again. Adora didn’t want this to happen. But just when that guilt began to creep in, the door to the bathroom suddenly opened.

Catra stood at that door, having just emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around her body as she looked at her girlfriend. “Oh. Hey, Adora. I was wondering where you had gone off to,” Catra spoke in a casual tone as Adora took a second to recover from her heart attack.

“I was… out with Mara. I know that sounds weird but we really just… clicked. We almost lost track of time,” Adora admitted. Catra gave a gentle smile as Adora took a seat on the bed. “How have you been today?”

“Just… thinking a lot. About everything,” Catra said as she started picking out some comfortable clothes to wear, changing into them. “I… I need to apologize to you. About yesterday morning. You were right. I was being a hypocrite towards Felinia. I’m sorry.”

“Catra…” Adora sighed. “I’m the one that should be apologizing. I said some stuff that sounded wrong… I was too harsh on you. You’re going through so much. You have every right to be upset. I just… I don’t think it’s fair that Felinia gets the brunt of it. I think she knows she’s screwed up a lot, but she’s really trying. But that still doesn’t take away your right to be upset about… all this. You know I’d never give up on you, right?”

Catra scoffed. “You already proved that. Trust me. And you’re right. It’s not fair that I take out my anger on Felinia a bunch… It’s just… I wish she wouldn’t make so many mistakes and I wish she’d be upfront with all of us. That’s all. But… I guess I should give her a chance. Everything has been so messed up that I keep having to remember that she’s my sister first and foremost, and she really does care about me.”

“I think giving her a chance is a good idea. And I’m going to try to be more understanding of you. I’m meant to be here for you, not against you. We’re not fighting anymore. I love you, Catra. I always will,” Adora smiled, standing up and approaching Catra as she put a jacket on.

“I love you too, you big dummy,” Catra smiled, leaning up and slowly resting her hands on Adora’s cheeks before pressing her lips against Adora’s. A wave of relief overcame the both of them as they shared their first kiss in a while. Adora ran her hand through Catra’s short hair as they kissed, and Catra held her girlfriend close.

They slowly separated and pushed their foreheads together gently. “You’re the dummy,” Adora teased, and Catra chuckled.

“I’m going to head out for a bit, okay? I promise I’ll be back before morning,” Catra said as she let go of Adora, heading for the door.

“Alright. Can I ask where you’re going?” Adora spoke. Catra opened the door, and stood still for a few moments, before turning and facing Adora.

“I’m going to talk to my sister and… see if we can make things right between us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thanks to everyone who has shown support for this story, it means so much! I love responding to all of your reviews, they always make my day :)
> 
> I recently finished up my first year of university, so I have a lot of free time now! I'm super excited to continue with this story. Big things are coming, and I can't wait to show it all off <3


	8. Trust

The night sky that reflected on Felinia’s eyes was filled with countless stars and planets.

She laid in a small field on the outskirts of Bright Moon, feeling the tufts of grass against her skin and the cold wind blow gently. But none of these feelings were stronger than Felinia’s love for the stars.

Catra had been looking for her for the last ten minutes before she spotted the familiar figure laying on the grass in the dark night. She exited Bright Moon and approached her older sister, taking a few deep breaths to calm whatever anxiety was in her body.

“It’s pretty late. What are you still doing up?” Felinia asked as she heard Catra approaching and turned her head to face her sister. Catra looked down at Felinia, and took a few seconds to think, before lowering herself and sitting next to Felinia, crossing her legs.

“I don’t sleep well. Besides that, I just wanted to talk to you,” Catra said as she looked up at the stars alongside Felinia.

“What about?” Felinia asked.

“Just… to talk. I don’t know. These past few days have been… so weird,” Catra sighed.

“No thanks to me.”

“I’ve gotten used to blaming you for a bit now. But… I’ve had a lot of time to think,” Catra spoke as she laid down next to Felinia. “I’m not sure if blaming you fully is the right thing to do here.”

Felinia remained silent at Catra’s words as they looked up at the night sky. Their eyes scanned all across the gorgeous stars, moons and planets that filled the horizon. It was an awkward silence, but one where they could simply take in the sights and the world.

“So… you like stars, right?” Catra asked, trying to fill the silence with something.

“Yeah. Ever since they came to the sky, I always looked at them. I’ve dreamt of reaching out to the sky and grabbing a few for myself… Just to keep them as a memento, you know?” Felinia said, reaching a hand outward towards the sky.

“A memento for what?” Catra asked.

“Being alive,” Felinia laid her arm back down, “surviving these last two decades going from place to place. I’ve had situations where I’ve had to fight to the bone to survive. Situations where I was sure I would die and never see you again. And yet, I lived. I lived for the chance to see you again.”

“To see me again…” Catra spoke quietly to herself. If Felinia had come to see her even a year back, she would’ve found a monster instead of her sister. The guilt was what weighed most on Catra’s shoulders through all of this. Her family had given everything for her, and she spat in their faces.

“Before I had the stars… I had books. Children’s books, actually. I’ve never really grown out of them. Those stories about superheroes… They’re always my favorite. I read them whenever I had a chance to find a place to stay and relax,” Felinia laughed softly. “I probably sound like a little kid.”

“Just a bit,” Catra teased, and the two sisters joined in gentle laughter as they stared up at the sky. Felinia took a joyful sigh.

“When the stars appeared, I looked at them every night before I slept. I always thought of you before I closed my eyes. The reason I fought so hard… You were what kept me going,” Felinia admitted. Catra couldn’t bring herself to look at Felinia as she looked sadly at the sky. She wondered if she should apologize. Would that fix anything?

“… I’m sorry,” Felinia suddenly spoke, almost stealing the words from Catra’s mouth.

“What for?” Catra asked.

“Just… these last few days. I never meant for my curse to do all of this, but… I should’ve seen it coming. I’m meant to be smarter than this,” Felinia sighed. Catra looked over to her sister, and saw that she was no longer looking at the sky. She saw the misery on Felinia’s face, and knew she had to do something about it.

“Felinia… I… I don’t think you need to apologize for that,” Catra spoke. “It’s not like you can control this curse, right? Plus… I spoke to Adora earlier and she said she had been talking to Mara all day. She seemed so happy, too. I think they really got along together. She wouldn’t have ever been able to speak to her without this curse so…”

“Oh… I didn’t know about that. I figured she wouldn’t want to see Mara at all,” Felinia replied. “I’m… glad Adora was happy to speak to Mara today. But…”

“… But what?” Catra asked.

Felinia hesitated for a few seconds, before shaking her head. “Nevermind. Who am I to judge someone else’s happiness? I’m glad they’re getting along despite all this.”

“Is this the first time your curse has ever made someone happy?” Catra asked. Felinia looked at the sky for a few moments, before shaking her head.

“It made me happy for a bit to see mom again,” Felinia responded quietly.

“What was she like? I don’t remember much about her,” Catra asked.

“She really loved us. I could tell it was stressful having to raise two kids by herself, but she worked her hardest for us. She was tough, but fair. We were never allowed outside the house, but she did that to protect us. And…” Felinia choked up for a bit, before speaking quietly. “She hated the Horde. She hated everything Hordak stood for. And… she died standing up to them.”

Catra was silent. Her heart felt like it had been torn in half, but she was almost used to this feeling by now. It ripped at her insides and tightened her throat, this guilt. Felinia could almost instantly tell from Catra’s pained expression what these words meant to her. “I know she’d be proud of you today, Catra. She loved you so much. I wish she was still here.”

“Well… She came back as a clone, didn’t she?” Catra asked. Felinia nodded slowly.

“She did. She was the one that stayed the longest. I needed her guidance and company for so long. But ultimately, I had to come to terms with the fact that she was just a clone. She wasn’t real. And it was dangerous to have her reflect my extreme emotions when I was so young. So… I had to…” Felinia trailed off as she spoke. Her voice became a hoarse whisper until it was no more, and Catra stopped her before she could go any further.

“I think she’d be proud of you too, Felinia. You’ve had to struggle a lot to become who you are,” Catra spoke, returning Felinia’s words from earlier. Her sister looked at Catra and gave a small smile, but it quickly faded.

“I don’t know… I gave you to the Horde, Catra. I’ve caused so much pain,” Felinia spoke.

“I’ve caused a lot of pain too. All of my friends here used to think of me as their enemy. Glimmer thought about killing me before, in fact. I know I caused Adora a lot of pain…” Catra returned. “So if you think mom would still be proud of me after all of my horrible deeds… Then the same has to go for you. I can’t take all the credit here. You’re at least trying to do some good despite everything.”

“So I cause everyone pain through my curse and you apparently caused them pain by being in the Horde. Maybe we just suck?” Felinia shrugged, and Catra scoffed.

“Yeah. Maybe we can be the suckiest siblings of all time. I’ll take that title with pride,” Catra smirked, looking back up at the sky.

More silence followed as they looked at each star and planet. Each having their own individual story and maybe even their own people. Catra had never felt smaller as she thought about how huge everything truly was. She really was just a small speck in the grand scheme of things.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to find a cause behind this curse,” Felinia suddenly spoke, “or a cure.”

“Why do you say that?” Catra asked.

“I’ve been reading a lot of books from the library in Bright Moon. I’ve actually been doing that at every library or archive I can go to. I’ve read everything from books about magic to old fairy tales,” Felinia turned to Catra, “and I haven’t found a single thing about a curse like this. I don’t think I ever will.”

“You don’t have, like… a theory?” Catra asked.

“The most I can think of is when mom told me that our species is rare on Etheria. Maybe some place out there has the answers,” Felinia reached out to the stars. “One of these planets might have exactly what I’m looking for. Maybe our species comes from another one of these planets. I don’t know. I guess part of the reason I want to see these stars and planets is so I can maybe find an answer behind all this.”

“Well… Wherever you go out there, I’ll come with you. We can find answers together,” Catra smiled. “I do have a promise to keep with you, after all. We’re meant to go to space together, just the two of us.”

Felinia smiled back at Catra. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Their eyes gazed back to the stars, and eventually, Catra could see out of the corner of her eyes Felinia placing her arms on the grass besides her, her palm facing up. Felinia’s eyes were still locked with the stars, but Catra took that opportunity to reach out and place a hand over Felinia’s.

Felinia let out a small gasp as she felt Catra take her hand. Eventually, shock was replaced with a warm smile as Felinia squeezed Catra’s hand. The sisters held hands and looked up to the sky, taking in the wind, grass and moons. This beautiful galaxy that they were in.

“Hey Catra?” Felinia spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“Would you say that you’re happy here in Bright Moon? That everyone here makes you happy?”

“Of course,” Catra responded without a second of hesitation. “We might have some struggles… And I know some of them still see me and remember my past. But I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. I love this place and I love the people I have around me. It’s got its ups and downs… But I’m happy here.”

Catra smiled up at the sky as she thought of all her friends. Some of them were in distant lands, but the connection was still there. It was a tough road to reach this place, but Catra was glad to have ended up with the woman she loved more than anything. She was glad to have true friends.

Felinia stared blankly at Catra as she gave her answer. Her face was calm, without a single expression. She simply looked at Catra and gave a few seconds of silence after her joyful response. And then, Felinia only had two words to say as she held her sister’s hand tighter.

“… I see.”

* * *

At this rate, Glimmer knew she would never be able to sleep.

She stared at the wall, trying to clear her mind of everything. She tried every relaxing technique she could think of, including counting the number of trees in the Whispering Woods. And yet, nothing came of it.

No matter what, her mind was filled with thoughts of Angella. The talk they had had today, and the feelings she felt all throughout it. It was confusing to describe in her mind. She felt so happy to have her mom back, but at the same time, she felt sick. This wasn’t the real Angella.

And yet, she didn’t want to let her go again. The idea of Angella vanishing almost brought tears to Glimmer’s eyes. She struggled for so long with grief and sorrow, and this was an escape from it all. Why should she have to go back?

These thoughts never helped her sleep. And so, she spoke up to the only other person in the room. “Bow? Are you still up?”

A few second passed. “Yeah. Just barely though,” Bow admitted.

“Sorry,” Glimmer sighed. “Is it okay if I ask you for a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Could you… come up here?”

A few more agonizing seconds passed as Glimmer felt her stomach twist into knots. It was almost an insane request. She realized there was no way he would join her in the same bed. They were just friends. Glimmer almost wanted to take back her words before Bow spoke up.

“Okay. If that’s what you want,” Bow responded.

Glimmer still felt the butterflies in her stomach, but the twist had come loose. She quickly teleported down to him. He had set up a small mattress in her room on her request. She had been struggling to sleep alone after everything that had been happening. She put a hand on Bow’s arm and teleported him up to her bed alongside her.

And suddenly, they were laying side by side, facing each other.

Immediately, their faces flushed red as they attempted to avoid eye contact. This was the most intimate position they had ever been in, and neither of them was sure how to feel about it. They didn’t hate it at the very least.

“Is… everything alright?” Bow asked.

Glimmer immediately wanted to reassure him that everything was okay, but she knew that wasn’t the truth. She hadn’t felt alright for a while now. Instead, she simply shook her head. “I don’t know… I just need a friend right now.”

Bow held a hand up besides his head on the pillow. Glimmer didn’t hesitate to place her hand over his, holding it gently as she closed her eyes, sighing. “Sorry if this is bothering you,” Glimmer apologized.

“You’re not. Helping my friend is the best use of my time that I can think of,” Bow spoke gently as Glimmer finally felt sleep overcome her body as she held Bow’s hand and laid near him. She felt safe and warm with his presence so close by.

They had known each other for years. Bow was her oldest friend, and she knew she would want to be his friend for life. “Good night, Bow…” Glimmer trailed off, finally letting her muscles relax and her mind clear of stress. It was instead replaced with thoughts of the times she’s had with Bow.

“Good night, Glimmer,” Bow returned. He felt comfort at seeing Glimmer relax. He could tell these last few days had been hurting her. He was never sure if he was helping out all that much, but he knew he wanted to do his best for his best friend.

For a few hours, they could just simply forget everything and take in each other’s company in their dreams.

* * *

It was early in the morning, once everyone had woken up, when Glimmer had called a meeting for everyone in Bright Moon. Catra almost looked like a zombie as she walked alongside Adora to the meeting room.

“Bad night?” Adora asked as Catra yawned for the sixth time.

“Wow, are you a psychic?” Catra asked in exaggerated shock, causing Adora to snicker.

“Is everything okay, for real though?” Adora asked with genuine concern as her laughter left her. Catra rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger and sighed.

“It’s the same stupid nightmare. I’m in some dark place and I just get… surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies,” Catra admitted with frustration in her voice as she frowned. “The worst part is… it always kind of scares me. It’s basically the same thing every time but… Dammit, I’m a wimp.”

“You’re not,” Adora put a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “You’re allowed to be afraid. But I keep telling you, if you’re having trouble sleeping, I’m right here. I don’t care what time it is. I love you and I want to be here for you, okay?”

“I know… I’m sorry I suck,” Catra sighed.

“You don’t suck. I get it. I’m just letting you know I’m here, okay?” Adora smiled. Catra nodded, and Adora gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as they entered the meeting room with everyone else. Glimmer, Bow, Angella, Mara and even Felinia were there. Though, it was easy to miss Felinia since she usually shrunk when sitting down.

Adora and Catra took a seat next to each other. They noticed Angella standing besides Glimmer as she sat, though they decided not to bring it up as Glimmer started. “I know we haven’t had a meeting like this in a while, but I wanted to bring up something I’ve been thinking about for a while now.”

Glimmer leaned forward. “Today, I want to tackle some uncharted territory: Beast Island.”

Catra felt a cold chill go down her spine at the mere utterance of those words. She remembered how many horror stories she was told about that place by Shadow Weaver and others in the Horde, and Adora took notice of her slight shiver. She reached over and grabbed Catra’s hand gently, stroking her thumb over Catra’s palm.

“I was going to wait until the rest of the alliance was here, but given… recent circumstances,” Glimmer cleared her throat, “we now have two incredibly powerful people on our side. With both Mara and Queen… I mean, Angella here, I’m confident we can take on any threats at Beast Island, if there are any. Our objective will simply be to check out the island, see if there are any threats, and see if we can repurpose it or destroy it.”

Glimmer scanned everyone’s faces for a few seconds. “Do we have any objections?”

“Just a question,” Adora spoke up, “what about Felinia? Is she coming along?”

All eyes immediately went to the older sister in the room, who immediately shrunk when everyone stared at her. “You don’t have to bring me along…” Felinia whimpered.

“You’re right. We don’t have to. But do you want to come along?” Catra asked. Felinia looked at her, and then at Glimmer. She opened her mouth and hesitated to bring out any words, but eventually, she quietly spoke.

“… Yes,” Felinia spoke. “I… want to prove myself to you all.”

Glimmer looked at Felinia for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing at the older sister. Felinia felt her heart racing a mile a minute as she felt the Queen’s intense stare.

“If there are no more objections… We leave in three hours. Dismissed. Felinia, mom, you stay here,” Glimmer spoke with a surprisingly authoritative voice. Everyone was almost scared to leave Felinia with Glimmer’s death stare, but they knew they had no other choice in the matter.

Adora gave a look of empathy to Felinia as she left with Catra, and ultimately, Felinia was stuck in a room with both the current and former Queen of Bright Moon.

“So, I want you to convince me to bring you along,” Glimmer spoke as she leaned back in her seat, “whilst I normally wouldn’t have an issue with it… Your curse is what is making me hesitate. We don’t know what Beast Island is like. We have no intel on it after the Horde’s defeat. For all we know, it could be filled with the dead. That would cause a problem, wouldn’t it?”

“I…” Felinia sighed. She knew there was no arguing back at what was essentially the truth. “I just… really want all of you to trust me in some way. After all the mistakes I’ve made… I want to make up for them.”

“And you can,” Glimmer nodded. “I’m just not sure if this is the appropriate time to do it. If we run into threats, can you even fight?”

“I’ve had to go from place to place for the last two decades, and I’ve gone to many dangerous locations. I had to teach myself to fight to survive… I probably won’t be as good as any of you, but I can take care of myself,” Felinia declared with a surprising amount of confidence. “I just… I don’t want to let you down again.”

“If I may,” Angella suddenly spoke up, “I believe Felinia could be a useful asset to us. Having more people there may do us some good, and with her experience of travel and reading about multiple subjects, she may prove to be useful. I think we should give her a chance at the very least.”

Glimmer almost immediately wanted to reject Angella, but the words caught in her throat. She looked at Angella, and then back to Felinia, pondering the pros and cons for a few moments. Felinia pleaded with a look, and Glimmer let out a low sigh. “Alright. You can come along, but under extreme supervision. You will stay in the far rear of the group. Take extreme caution in every action you do. You understand?”

Felinia instantly shot up and tried her hardest not to burst into a beaming smile as she nodded frantically. “I don’t know how to thank you, Queen Glimmer. I…”

“Just do what you said you were going to do. Prove your usefulness to us,” Glimmer advised. “You’re dismissed.”

Felinia stood and bowed slightly to Glimmer, before quickly leaving before she showed any more excitement. Glimmer sighed, running her hands over her face as she stood up. “I apologize if I spoke over you. I was just offering my thoughts on the matter,” Angella said, but Glimmer shook her head.

“It’s fine. I needed a second opinion anyway,” Glimmer smiled up at her mother. She left to go get ready for the excursion.

“Still…” Glimmer spoke up before she left the room. She turned to face her mother. “I just hope she doesn’t screw things up for everyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for sticking with this story so far! I understand this has been a slow start. All I can promise y'all is that I have big plans in store and I really cannot wait to show them off. I'm loving writing this story and I'm glad y'all are enjoying it alongside me, but trust me, things are about to get big ;)
> 
> As usual, I love receiving any and all reviews and will always respond! Thank you!


	9. Beast Island

Felinia had already been waiting outside of Mara’s ship for the last fifteen minutes before everyone else showed up.

Glimmer led the group of Bright Moon, consisting of Adora, Catra, Bow, Mara and Angella. It was midday as they emerged from the trees towards Mara’s ship, and Glimmer’s eyes widened upon seeing Felinia. “How… How long have you been waiting here?” Glimmer asked.

“Uh… Not long! I just… wanted to get a head start and all…” Felinia admitted with a nervous chuckle. Glimmer crossed her arms.

“So I assume you’ve done a quick check-up on the ship’s interior and looked for anything out of line?” Glimmer asked as Felinia scratched the back of her head.

“Of course!” Felinia answered with an awkward chuckle, avoiding eye contact with Glimmer. But even though she wasn’t looking, she could feel Glimmer’s death stare burning at her. “I, uh… Yeah, I have no idea how to get in. I was hoping one of you would come earlier and open the door…”

Glimmer sighed as Mara stepped forward, opening the door of the ship as she smiled down at Felinia. “I’m sure you put in a lot of effort to open the door, Felinia,” Mara spoke with a soft, kind tone.

“But maybe tell the truth next time,” Glimmer huffed as she walked towards the ship, leading everyone inside. Some looks of empathy were shared with Felinia as everyone boarded Mara’s ship.

“What did you say you called this again? Darlene?” Mara asked Adora as she headed for the pilot’s seat.

“Darla. Don’t ask why. You’d have to pick at Entrapta’s brain to understand her and the names she gives out to her inventions, and I dare say, that could prove to be one of the most dangerous things a person can do,” Adora chuckled as she stood by Mara as she got comfortable in her chair.

“Alright… I think I can do this. It’s only been a thousand years,” Mara spoke to herself as she got familiar with the ship’s controls, glancing around and slowly recognizing each button, lever and switch. She flexed her fingers and started pressing at some of the buttons ahead of her. Slowly, the ship started to light up as Mara chuckled to herself.

“Light Hope, can I get a status update…?” Mara instinctively spoke those words but as soon as she said them, her eyes went wide and her smile dropped. Of course, no answer came. A cold shiver went down Adora’s spine as she saw Mara’s mood almost instantly shift from excitement to misery.

“Mara…” Adora spoke softly, reaching out to place a gentle hand on Mara’s shoulder.

“… I’ll get us there soon,” Mara spoke coldly as she went back to getting the ship off the ground, cutting herself off from everyone else and refusing to look at Adora. Adora understood her mood, and decided to leave her be, going to sit next to Catra.

Soon enough, as everyone found their seats, the ship slowly began to hover off the ground and go straight up. It was a much cleaner take-off than anyone had been able to achieve before, and everyone was thankful that Mara still remembered how to fly her own ship.

As Mara set a course for Beast Island, Catra looked at her feet and thought about a name she had just heard from Adora: Entrapta. It wasn’t too long ago that she sent Entrapta to Beast Island in full knowledge that she may actually die there. The guilt that drowned Catra from that action still stuck with her.

In her dreams, Catra always saw Entrapta’s corpse, and she always blamed herself. The fact Entrapta lived was a miracle in and of itself, and Catra had wanted to punish herself for nearly killing Entrapta almost every day. Of course, it was only one of the many actions that caused Catra guilt, but it was up there with one of the worst.

Catra wasn’t the only one anxious about Beast Island. Adora and Bow exchanged a glance as the ship started heading towards the place they almost died in alongside Swift Wind and Micah. They both had nightmares about their experience there, and the droning signal buried its way into their brains for long after they left.

Adora slowly nodded to Bow, letting him know that they have each other and everyone else around them, and they wouldn’t be in any danger this time. After all, ever since the planet was cured, maybe Beast Island was cured alongside it? Maybe it wasn’t so dangerous anymore?

Still. The nerves they felt wouldn’t go away until they saw the island for themselves. The butterflies in their stomachs only grew larger and grew larger as they made their way towards the unknown.

Towards Beast Island. And towards their trauma.

* * *

The first thing everyone noticed as the ship approached the island was the droning signal that buried into their brains.

In almost an instant, a flash of memories came back to Adora and Bow upon hearing that sound. Their discomfort was more obvious, but at the same time, they had grown used to it. Everyone exchanged worried looks as Mara began to dock.

As she lowered the ship, there was a bit of rocking and rattling. “It’s a bit of interference!” Mara explained as the ship shook about violently. She seemed to still have control of the ship as she slowly lowered it atop the island, but the shaking combined with the signal was enough to make Glimmer nearly sick.

Everyone looked outside their windows to see the nightmare before them. To Adora and Bow, it almost looked the exact same as when they left it. Clearly, there was no curing an island like this. It shouldn’t even exist in the first place.

“Alright… Darla should be fine, but we better make this quick. Conditions are unstable,” Mara said as she finally parked the ship and shut it off, opening the door for everyone. Adora went over to Mara before anything else,

“Hey. You okay?” Adora asked quietly to Mara.

“I’ll be alright. It just… stings a bit. I think I just need to focus on this… Get my mind off her and all,” Mara explained as everyone slowly set foot on the island outside.

“I’m always here to talk, okay?” Adora put a hand on Mara’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Mara smiled, “I just want to focus on this for now. We’ll talk later, okay?”

Adora nodded as she and Mara were the last to step foot on the island, and everyone had visibly tensed up as they looked at the area surrounding them. Discarded bits of metal, rough structures and buildings, and almost everything was sharp to touch. Even the trees looked intimidating. All of this haunted by a gray sky and cold, bitter wind.

“Alright… We all know what to do. Check out the place, see if there’s any threats or any way to repurpose this island. Or… destroy it,” Glimmer spoke, before putting a hand to her forehead. “Ugh, I feel sick…”

“Glimmer!” Bow cried out as he spotted Glimmer suddenly crumbling to her knees. He put a hand on her back, noticing Glimmer looking more pale than usual. “I think the signal is doing this to you…”

“The signal?” Glimmer asked.

“It’s First Ones tech,” Mara suddenly spoke up. “All of this is… it’s practically junk, but I recognize all of it. Scrapped projects… Materials… This place is a dumping ground. I recognize the signal too. It was… It was a torture method.”

“What the…” Adora’s eyes widened upon hearing this horrifying detail. She had known that Beast Island was a First Ones dumping ground, but the signal being a torture method, although horrible, just made too much sense for her.

“It definitely feels like torture… I’m gonna throw up…” Glimmer mumbled. Bow rubbed a hand on her back in circles and Glimmer instinctively reached out for his arm, holding onto it tight and pressing her body against Bow’s.

“Are you going to be able to carry on in this mission?” Angella asked as she knelt down in front of the weakened Glimmer.

“I… I have to. It’s… It’s my duty…” Glimmer attempted to stand on her feet, but slipped, causing Bow to catch her again.

“This signal… What is it doing?” Angella asked Mara.

“It brings out fear… Anxiety… It affects some more than others, but it is usually pretty powerful. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t break after some time with it,” Mara explained. Angella looked to Glimmer, and slowly began to realize that if this signal affected those with a high level of anxiety more than others, then Glimmer must be going through so much.

Angella wondered if it was all because of her. She had to hide this self-doubt like usual, but it just made sense to her. Her presence would no doubt be causing a lot of grief and confusion for her daughter.

“Glimmer, come on. It’s okay to just wait on the ship,” Bow spoke softly, but Glimmer shook her head.

“I’m fine… I’m fine,” Glimmer spoke, although mostly to reassure herself. “I have to keep standing. I’m fine.”

Slowly, Glimmer stomped her foot on the ground and raised her body up, still feeling the deep sickness in her stomach but opting to push through and stand. She clenched her fists tight and shook her head. “I guess if we can be thankful for anything, we haven’t spotted any monsters yet,” Glimmer commented.

“So far,” Adora responded, “but last time Bow and I were here, there were a bunch in the bottom area. We practically got overwhelmed.”

“Why were you at a place like this?” Angella asked Adora.

“We had to rescue Entrapta. It’s… also when we found your husband,” Adora admitted, and Angella’s eyes widened for a bit.

“I see… Was it just you and Bow?” Angella asked.

“And Swift Wind,” Bow replied.

“Why wasn’t Glimmer with you? Was she on another mission?” Angella asked. Immediately, Glimmer felt another wave of sickness hit her as she remembered the events that led up to Beast Island. She didn’t even want to go there in the first place and had attempted to stop Adora and Bow from going.

“Well…” Adora hesitated to speak for a few moments, trying to come up with any excuse she could think of.

“… I forbid them from going,” Glimmer suddenly spoke. Angella’s eyes turned to her daughter as she spoke, her head hanging low out of shame. “They had to sneak out because of me. Because of me, we might’ve never found dad. We might’ve let Entrapta die. It would’ve been all my fault.”

“Glimmer…” Angella gasped, trying to find the words to comfort her. Adora and Bow could only stare as Glimmer looked at the floor, her face melted into pure hatred for herself as she pushed forward, going deeper into the island.

“Let’s just… get this over with,” Glimmer sighed. However, she was suddenly stopped as Felinia placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You can’t let the self-hatred set in because of your mistakes, Queen Glimmer. I know that you’re an amazing…” Felinia attempted to comfort Glimmer, but her voice trailed off as slowly, Glimmer’s glare shot directly to Felinia’s eyes and almost into her very soul.

“I don’t need your pity,” Glimmer snarled, before shrugging Felinia’s hand off her shoulder and pushing forward. Felinia stood and watched Glimmer walk on, and grabbed at her own wrist, shrinking slightly.

“You okay?” Adora asked as she approached Felinia, who only gave a small nod. “Don’t let it get to you. I think the droning noise is getting to her. How are you dealing with it?”

“I…” Felinia looked at Glimmer for a bit longer, before looking back to Adora. “I’m… actually doing okay. For some reason, this signal… isn’t getting to me as much as I thought it would.”

“Oh…” Adora spoke quietly, a tad bit of shock flowing through her body. She wasn’t quite sure how to interpret Felinia’s words, but she eventually gave a small smile. “I… guess that’s good?”

“I suppose…” Felinia said, moving forward timidly as Adora looked to Catra for a few seconds, trying to judge Felinia’s words and yet, reaching no conclusion.

It was no better the deeper they pushed. The island was empty and yet it only brought about misery and bitterness in the group as the signal droned on and on. Every now and then, Mara would point out a piece of First Ones tech she recognized and Bow would take it for himself to use or show Entrapta later on.

Eventually, after carefully avoiding all the sharp material and rusted buildings, they found a large row of cells on the main part of the island. The cells stretched on until it reached the other end of the island, and they climbed to five stories high. The cells were left outside, so the harsh weather would be all that the prisoners would have if they were vacant.

The cells were all isolated too. They had just enough space between them to make conversation with other prisoners nearly impossible. Opposite the cells was a large building that Adora assumed to be the HQ of Beast Island. It reached higher than the cells, and was topped with a spotlight.

As Catra looked to the empty cells, she had flashes of Entrapta locked in one of those horrible boxes. The bars were razor sharp and the bed was practically non-existent. The cell was designed to drive anyone crazy, and Catra had doomed her to a place like that.

“Hey. You okay?” Adora asked as she grabbed Catra’s hand gently, noticing her fearful eyes as she looked at the cells.

“I…” Catra stuttered for a bit, before she let out a sigh. “I… sent Entrapta to a place like this… I knew it was horrible, but… It’s so much worse than the tales we were told as kids. And I just… sent her to die…”

“Catra… Didn’t Entrapta forgive you for that?” Adora asked as Catra grabbed both of her hands.

“That still doesn’t change what I did… Who I was…” Catra mumbled, but Adora only responded by resting a hand on her cheek and tilting her head up, looking into her eyes.

“I know the past hurts a lot. But we’re all here for you. I’m here for you. We forgave you, Catra. No one is holding your past against you anymore,” Adora explained, stroking her thumb against Catra’s cheek gently. Catra reached up and placed her hand over Adora’s, sighing in comfort. “Besides… When Bow and I found Entrapta, she seemed almost the same as usual.”

“Really?” Catra asked. Adora was hesitant to nod, considering it wasn’t the entire truth.

“She… was definitely hurt, I think. But she never lost her drive for what she loved. I’m just glad we were able to get her out of here. She’s really grown as a person ever since,” Adora smiled. Catra held onto Adora’s hand for a little longer, and kissed her palm.

“I’m going to go check out that huge building,” Catra said, nodding to the HQ. “Thanks, Adora… I just needed someone to talk to. This place just brings out bad memories.”

“Hopefully we won’t be here for long,” Adora comforted her. Catra gave Adora a quick kiss on the lips, before heading for the large spiral of stairs up to the top of HQ. She slowly gained a larger view of the island, but only found more land that she never wanted to explore.

At the top of the large structure, Catra found a room with working electronics. The first thing she noticed was a camera feed, showing all kinds of footage from the island. It was even capturing their ship docked at the south end of it. Catra could see everyone outside through the cameras.

She also had a few computers in front of her that seemed to control many aspects of the island. It was, after all, mostly connected through First Ones technology. It seemed the island could be put on high alert, or all the cell doors could be opened, or death traps could be activated.

“What’ve you found?” Catra heard Glimmer ask as she entered the room a bit after Catra.

“Some interesting stuff. Security cameras, operating systems…” Catra scanned the computer screens alongside Glimmer, until eventually, she found a long list on one of the computer screens. It was a lot of green text on a dark background.

“What’s this?” Glimmer asked.

Catra scanned the list and read out a whole bunch of names. None of them were really recognizable, but the names were listed in alphabetical order. “Could it be…” Catra whispered to herself as she scanned the list in the E section.

Sure enough, Catra found Entrapta’s name amongst the list. “These are all prisoners… Entrapta’s name is here,” Catra realized.

“You said that any prisoner who went to Beast Island never came back, right?” Glimmer asked Catra, and she nodded.

“It’s what we’re told in the Horde. So all of these names… They… must be dead people,” Catra shivered. Each name was a story. An identity. All of it stripped away from this horrible island. Perhaps these people were innocent or only made one small mistake. They were locked in those isolated, cold cells to die in whatever way this cruel island decided.

“What’ve you two found up here?” A voice suddenly sounded as someone else climbed the stairs.

It was Felinia’s voice.

Catra and Glimmer looked at each other for half a second with horror as they realized what could happen if Felinia saw these names. There were hundreds of them. All of them dead. And if Felinia saw them…

“DON’T COME IN!” Catra suddenly screamed, sprinting outside the room as her heart instantly shot up to lightning speed. She rounded the corner to see Felinia about to peer into the room. Her eyes met with her sister’s, and the horror of the situation struck all at once.

In a moment of panic, Catra tackled Felinia to the ground, putting a hand over her eyes to prevent her from seeing anything. “What are you doing?! Catra?!” Felinia started yelling, struggling to get Catra off her.

Catra so desperately wanted to explain the situation, but she had no idea what could trigger Felinia’s curse. Maybe the mere mention of the list would be enough. There was too much unknown variables and Catra simply had to struggle to keep Felinia down.

Soon enough, Felinia’s screams weren’t the only ones.

On the ground floor, Angella suddenly crumbled onto her knees and put her hands over her ears, screaming bloody murder, unlike anything Adora had ever heard. She screamed without reason, her eyes shot wide and terrified.

At the same time, Mara pulled at her own hair and fell to the ground, curling up into a ball as she started to shake all over, becoming a haunted mess. Felinia’s curse started to affect them as she panicked without any sense of reason.

“Let me go! Let me go, please!” Felinia begged as Catra continued to keep a hand over her sister’s eyes. Her cries, combined with the horrifying screams of the powerful Angella and Mara, were enough to drive fear into anyone nearby. Catra especially.

“It’s a list!” Glimmer suddenly yelled. Catra looked at her with wide eyes, frightened that those words might have been enough to trigger Felinia’s curse. But eventually, Felinia’s panicked movements stopped, as did Mara and Angella’s screams.

“A list…” Felinia whispered to herself. Slowly, Catra took her eyes away from Felinia as she stood up. “A list of names?”

Slowly, Catra nodded, her heart still racing at the thought of hundreds upon hundreds of Beast Island prisoners coming back as clones. But eventually, Felinia shook her head and whispered. “That’s… That’s okay…”

“That’s okay? What do you mean?” Catra asked.

“They won’t come back,” Felinia whispered to Catra, quiet enough so that Glimmer couldn’t hear. Catra stared with wide eyes at her sister as she said those words, and Felinia recognized the confusion. She grabbed Catra’s wrist and pulled her downstairs to a location isolated from everyone else.

“Felinia, what is going on? Why do you seem so calm now?” Catra asked as she followed Felinia to a secure spot.

“That list won’t do anything to trigger my curse,” Felinia explained as she stood far away from the group. “I’ve never had clones come back from reading names. I read books all the time and I’ve never had someone come back from that.”

“But… you said…”

“I know I said to you that reading a name triggers the curse when we first met a few days ago. That…” Felinia smirks a bit. “That was just a lie.”

“A… lie?” Catra was baffled.

“In truth, I think the curse works by bringing back a clone that represents that person’s memories of them. It’s only a theory, of course. But what we see as Mara is, let’s say, Adora’s version of Mara, since I heard about Mara from her. It might not be completely accurate to who Mara really is, but it’s accurate to what Adora’s memories of Mara is. Again, that’s just my assumption. I have had clones say irregular stuff that couldn’t be possible from that person’s memories… But I think memories have to play a part in forming a clone at the very least. Maybe the clone draws on memories of everyone around them? I still haven’t figured it out really,” Felinia explained.

Catra could only stand in silence at this revelation. She purely had no idea what to say.

“In short, I can’t draw on memories from a text because… Well, texts don’t have memories. It’s just as simple as that. I assume clones draw on memories of real people,” Felinia smiled. “But let’s just keep that between you and me, okay?”

Felinia had never acted like this. This sudden confidence, even the sly smile… It almost reminded Catra of herself. Of who she used to be. “Why would you… lie about something like that…?” Catra asked.

As she said those words, Felinia’s smile slowly faded. “Isn’t it obvious? If we keep some information to ourselves, we get somewhat of an advantage over these people,” Felinia explained. “Come on, Catra. I know you understand. It was the same with mom. We all hate being sidekicks. We all hate being second best.”

Catra felt her heart drop.

“I think it just runs in our blood. Being underneath someone… It’s not us. Mom hated being beneath the Horde. I was always a bit more tame… But even I have my limits. So, I have this little bit of information over the rest of them. I’m not completely under them, so to speak. It’s just a bit of a white lie, really,” Felinia chuckled. “Haven’t you had those moments in your life? Those times where you just hate being considered powerless?”

Catra could only stare at Felinia in horror. She hated the fact that Felinia was right about her assumption of her. Her confession had driven Catra into a state of absolute confusion, but soon enough, it was overcome with anger as she glared at her sister. “What… is wrong with you?” Catra seethed.

“Catra…?” Felinia spoke quietly, her form shrinking yet again under Catra’s glare.

“You lied to my friends! All for what, some dumb, non-existent power?! Felinia, you freaked us out there! This isn’t some game or hierarchy that you need to come out on top of!” Catra growled, putting a hand on Felinia’s shoulder and shoving her against a nearby wall.

“I’m not trying to come out on top, I just… don’t want to be seen as completely powerless…” Felinia mumbled. “I thought you’d understand…”

“I understand that isolation has probably driven you crazy. News flash! Most people don’t do this!” Catra berated her sister, before letting out a sigh of frustration as she let go of Felinia. “Look… When we get back to Bright Moon tonight, you’re going to have to explain this to everyone. No more half truths. No more power structure. We’re all equal here, and I don’t want you trying to gain the upper hand on anyone.”

“But…” Felinia started, but soon stopped herself as she looked at Catra. She looked at her sister, almost enraged, and eventually, Felinia sighed. “Right. I’m sorry.”

Catra shook her head, and left Felinia, going back upstairs. She felt anger and confusion at Felinia’s actions, but most of all, she felt reminded of her past self in the worst ways. Just the way Felinia looked was enough to trigger those memories, and now she had to act like this?

Catra sighed as she entered HQ to see Glimmer looking at the security footage. “Anything interesting?” She asked.

“Nothing good,” Glimmer said. “The cameras on the lower floor show a bunch of monsters. More than I can count. I assume these are the same ones Adora and Bow had to fight when they rescued Entrapta.”

Catra looked at the footage, and sure enough, creatures, both large and small, inhabited the underbelly of Beast Island. None of them looked friendly either.

“What do you think we should do?” Bow asked as he entered along with everyone else except Felinia, overhearing Glimmer and Catra’s conversation. Mara and Angella looked clearly upset by their actions earlier which were out of their control.

“I… I think this island is beyond saving. There’s so much horror here…” Glimmer admitted. “Mara, what do you think? Anything useful?”

“Like I said, these are all scrapped projects and materials. I doubt you could find use for them,” Mara explained. Glimmer lowered her head in deep thought, closing her eyes for a few seconds, before eventually, making eye contact with Bow.

“I think we need to destroy this place.”

“Are you sure?” Bow asked.

“This signal… These cells… What way could we repurpose any of this? This island isn’t helping any of us… It’s just a harsh reminder of what used to be. A place of trauma,” Glimmer explained. “To add onto that, the lower levels filled with monsters is dangerous. I don’t want anyone stumbling on this place and getting hurt.”

Bow looked to Glimmer and nodded. He always knew she had the right thing in mind, and he agreed with her this time. He went over to the computers and checked the system. After a few seconds, Bow nodded to himself. “Destroying this place might not be so hard, too. If I can overload the system with a bunch of commands, I think it might cause a chain reaction that’ll lead to an explosion. This place is built entirely on tech, so if we stress that tech out, it’ll combust.”

“Can you do it in a way where all of us will be safe?” Glimmer asked.

“I can give us… a few minutes at most. We’ll have to run once I input an overload command,” Bow explained. Everyone looked to each other, and exchanged understanding nods.

“The only fate this place deserves is the bottom of the ocean. I’ll say good riddance,” Catra scowled. She took a second to look outside to spot Felinia, who was still standing in the same place as when Catra scolded her. Catra sighed, knowing her words must’ve hurt her sister.

“Anything else anyone needs to do before I launch this?” Bow asked. Glimmer shook her head, and everyone else was in unison.

“Blow this place sky high,” Glimmer grinned.

And so, Bow launched the command.

The group had a few minutes to run down the stairs and towards the ship. It wasn’t a long hike thankfully, but Catra had to make a quick stop for Felinia as everyone else ran on ahead. “We’re destroying this place. You’ve got to hurry,” Catra explained, grabbing Felinia’s wrist.

But Felinia refused to move.

Catra tugged at her wrist but Felinia simply had a blank look on her face. “What are you doing?!” Catra cried, and Felinia simply looked up into Catra’s eyes without a hint of panic on her face. Instead, she just looked betrayed.

“Are you even my sister…?” Felinia asked in a soft voice.

“What the… Felinia, come on!” Catra yelled, finally pulling Felinia and running towards the ship frantically. She practically had to drag her sister the whole way, who wasn’t very good at pulling her own weight as they approached the ship, which was already taking off.

Catra pulled Felinia onboard just as Mara began to fly away from Beast Island. Everyone took a few seconds to look back at the island as it grew smaller and smaller, until eventually, it grew too small to see.

“You sure whatever you did worked?” Glimmer asked Bow, and right on cue, a small vibration shook the ship around slightly as an explosion occurred in the far off distance.

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure,” Bow said after the vibrations ceased. For the first time in a while, everyone was able to take a breath. The signal no longer droning in their minds, and an island that could no longer bring harm to them. Beast Island would remain in their memories, and nothing more.

But Felinia did not share that relief. She brought her knees up to her chest as she sat in a far corner and looked at each person on that ship. She felt isolated. She felt alone.

Felinia was afraid of the people around her.


	10. Superhero

The stars had filled the sky that surrounded Darla and its crew as it flew back to Bright Moon.

Not many words had been exchanged amongst everyone in the ship after what happened on Beast Island. The horror stories told about it did nothing to justify the true terror of the island, and combine that with the screams of Angella and Mara still ringing in everyone’s ears, it created an experience that everyone would rather forget.

Adora sat near a window of the ship, Catra laying her head on Adora’s shoulder as they rested. Endless amounts of trees and fields filled the lands of Etheria, and it truly reminded Adora just how wonderful this world was after everything that had happened.

Eventually, Adora spotted a small town on the ground. It had a few people and fewer buildings, but it came to Adora’s mind that after everything that had happened today, a small break in a new place might be exactly what they needed.

“Hey Mara?” Adora spoke up to the pilot. “Think we can land here?”

“Outside this town? It should be easy enough, but why?” Mara asked.

“I figured it might have a place to get some food from. Besides,” Adora gestured to everyone else on the ship, “I think we could all use a break after everything that has happened today.”

“Fair enough,” Mara nodded, and slowly, she began to lower the ship into a nearby open field. Glimmer had been resting her head on Bow’s lap, recovering from the sickness brought about by the signal. Angella had been keeping a close eye on her in the meantime.

The only person who wasn’t tired and down was Felinia. She had kept to herself in the corner, glancing at everyone else with mildly panicked eyes. Adora had looked at her a few times and noticed her frightened look, and made a note to ask her about it when they got back to Bright Moon. Maybe Beast Island terrified her?

The ship slowly rested on the grassy field as Catra stretched her arms above her head, yawning loudly. “I’m starving. This place better be good.”

“I tend to find that the best food comes from places you randomly stumble upon in the middle of nowhere,” Bow commented as Glimmer woke up as well, some color returning to her skin as she felt less tired and drowsy.

“Mara, Angella, you should probably stay here. For… obvious reasons,” Adora chuckled. Mara nodded, leaning back in her chair and letting out a sigh of relaxation, finally taking a break from piloting.

“I suppose making conversation with the previous She-Ra isn’t a bad way to pass the time,” Angella smiled.

Everyone else, including Felinia, left the ship as the door opened and headed for the nearby town. The warm breeze that hit their skin was a stark contrast to the cold wind of Beast Island, and it instantly filled their souls with the joy they needed.

The town was filled with small huts and buildings that emanated light and laughter. Villagers noticed the new guests entering their abode, and especially took note of Adora. Kids came up to meet ‘the She-Ra’, and a few even bowed before Glimmer, though she was quick to tell them there was no need.

“There’s two Catra’s!” A young voice suddenly sounded as a small child approached Felinia and Catra, pointing between the two of them. Felinia’s eyes shot wide and she looked at any other direction apart from the child, but Catra simply laughed.

“Nah, this is my sister. Her name is Felinia,” Catra explained, placing a hand on Felinia’s shoulder. “You going to say hi?”

“I’m, uh…” Felinia coughed, “I’m not good with kids,” she explained to Catra.

“Oh, come on. Kids are easy. Just say stuff in simple words,” Catra said. Felinia hesitated, but soon enough, she looked down at the child and gave a small wave, putting on an awkward smile.

“H… Hello…” Felinia spoke. The child looked at her, cocking her head to the side in slight confusion as they looked up at her and Catra. Soon enough, the child pointed to Felinia.

“You’re Catra,” they said to Felinia. Catra scoffed.

“No, I’m Catra. That’s Felinia,” Catra spoke slowly to the child. The child pondered for a few more seconds, before pointing to Felinia again.

“That’s Catra. Catra has long hair. Your hair is short,” the child said. They frowned at Catra. “It’s not good to lie. You’re not Catra.”

Catra tensed up a bit at these words, but decided to keep her mouth shut as she simply walked away from the kid. Felinia watched Catra walk away, and looked down to the child, before giving the same wave again. “Uh… goodbye…”

“Bye-bye, Catra!” The child waved gleefully as Felinia walked alongside Catra, looking at her expression. If anything, Catra looked mildly annoyed. Her eye twitched slightly as the child called Felinia ‘Catra’ yet again.

“Sorry about that…” Felinia whispered to Catra, but she simply shook her head.

“It’s cool. Kids are dumb anyway,” Catra scoffed. However, she felt uncomfortable at Felinia being confused for herself. Felinia always drove home the image of Catra when she was in the Horde. She reminded Catra of her past and her regrets, and no matter how hard she tried to push those memories away when she looked at her sister, it was always itching in the back of her mind.

The food they received was hot and wholesome, and the village people insisted that She-Ra should not have to pay for her meals. Despite protests from Adora, they eventually were outnumbered and the food the group received was ‘on the house’.

“What did I tell you? Villages you find in the middle of nowhere are always the best places,” Bow smiled as Adora carried piles and piles of meat, vegetables, soups and other array of foods.

“I still feel bad about not paying in some way… I’ll have to go back there one day and see if there’s any way I can do a favor for them,” Adora grunted as she carried the food towards Darla, where Mara and Angella awaited them.

“That is… a lot,” Mara commented as she spotted Adora’s pile of food in her arms.

“It was a generous village,” Glimmer smirked as Adora was finally able to put the food down on a clean floor.

“One of the kids mistook Felinia for me,” Catra chuckled. “It was a little annoying, but I think it was a cute.”

“She does look similar to how you used to look,” Adora replied as she grabbed some of the food for herself, “you were always the one who cared least about your hair in the Horde. I always had bits of your hair on my sheets when we slept in the same bed.”

“Well you never told me you didn’t like my long hair,” Catra frowned.

“I didn’t say that. I thought you looked cute with long hair,” Adora smirked.

“Oh, so I don’t look cute now with short hair?”

Adora grinned and leaned towards Catra. “I think you’re trying to start an argument for the sake of starting an argument. You always looked cute and you always will look cute. I don’t care how long your hair is. I’ll always love it.”

Catra tried to hide her blush by looking at the floor, but she simply gave Adora a small shove as she grabbed her own food. “Well, your hair is dumb,” she scoffed, trying to get her blush to go away. But Adora’s grin only grew wider.

“Is that why you run your fingers through it every time we cuddle in bed?” Adora asked, and that direct attack was enough to make Catra’s whole face go red.

“S… Shut up!” She seethed, but it was no match for Adora’s laughter. Catra could only frown with an intense blush as she sat down on the field with Mara, Angella, Bow, Glimmer and Felinia. Adora’s flirts were always too powerful for her.

As Adora sat with Mara, Bow quietly shushed them. Adora raised an eyebrow, but then realized the reason everyone was being quiet: Felinia was looking at the stars with wide eyes and her mouth hung open in awe.

It was a cute sight for most of them. They were so used to seeing Felinia nervous all the time, so it was an interesting change of pace to see her so, quite literally, starstruck. But soon enough, Felinia realized how quiet everything was and immediately looked around to see that everyone was staring at her. “Did… Did I do something wrong?” Felinia asked.

“No, no! You just looked really cute when you were staring up at the stars like that,” Adora explained to Felinia, causing the other sister to now blush as she scratched the back of her head.

“Sorry about that…” Felinia whimpered.

“Hey, no need to apologize. You really like the stars, right?” Bow asked as he dug into his meal. Felinia frantically nodded.

“I think they’re amazing… I used to always look at them every night before I slept. Either that, or I dug into a story about superheroes… They were my ways of passing time for a while,” Felinia said as everyone listened to her. Well, mostly everyone. Catra had barely picked at her food as she looked at the ground.

“Is there any reason you love stars so much?” Glimmer asked. Felinia’s ears perked up. She wasn’t used to Glimmer being so nice to her.

“Uh…” Felinia took a second to compose herself. “I guess the stars just… represent hope to me. A reason to live and fight on. Each of them tell a story. Each of them hold an answer. It’s… hard to describe. Have you ever developed an obsession with something so great that you forgot why you were obsessed in the first place?”

“That’s kind of like me with my tech,” Bow replied. “I don’t know how I got into it in the first place, but I don’t even want to stop now. I love crafting things and trying out all new forms of creations.”

“I’m glad I’m not just crazy,” Felinia chuckled.

“You know, the stars look just as beautiful as back in my time,” Mara smiled up to the sky. “They used to be a form of communication or signs for us. The First Ones used stars for all sorts of things, but I just always thought they looked pretty.”

“I think that’s the good thing about them,” Felinia replied, “stars are just beautiful. Whether or not they hold some form of meaning is neat, but you can’t deny how pretty they are. I love linking them up like little dot-to-dot’s.”

“That’s actually pretty cute,” Glimmer chuckled, and Felinia blushed a bit more. Suddenly, Glimmer tensed up as she spoke again. “I, uh… I’ve been wanting to ask you all something for a while now. It’s not really on topic but…”

“We’re all ears, Glimmer,” Bow put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. Glimmer took a small breath and closed her eyes.

“Do you all… think I’m a good Queen? Even if I could never compare to mom?” Glimmer asked. Angella blinked a few times at this statement, almost immediately wanting to say something. But she held her tongue, and let others answer first.

“I think my answer is pretty obvious,” Bow said, “you’re an amazing Queen. But it goes beyond that. You’re just flat-out an amazing person. I can’t imagine living a life without you. You inspire me in so many ways, and you’re one of the most important people in my life. Being a good Queen is just a bonus, in my eyes.”

“I agree,” Adora added, picking at her food, “I mean, if you want the simple answer to if I think you’re a good Queen or not, it is an easy yes. You helped save the world, Glimmer. You’re incredible.”

Glimmer looked from Adora to Angella. She looked to her mother, asking for a response from the one person she looked up to most. And she was met with a warm nod. “I am so proud of you, Glimmer,” Angella spoke.

Instantly, Glimmer felt her throat tighten at these words. She knew that tears were building up and she had to hold them back as she looked up at her mother. “Thank you…” Glimmer spoke in a quaky voice as she wiped her eyes clean of oncoming tears. “And… Thank you, Felinia.”

“M… Me?” Felinia asked, looking wide eyed at Glimmer.

“For bringing mom back. I know you couldn’t control it, but… I really appreciate it,” Glimmer smiled.

“Same here. Having Mara back and giving her a second chance at life really means a lot,” Adora said. Felinia looked between the two of them and only brought her knees closer to her chest as she hid most of her face.

“You really don’t have to thank me…” Felinia whimpered.

“I know. But I want to,” Glimmer said. “Look… Maybe I was being a tad too harsh on you. I’m sorry for that. A lot of this stuff is out of your control. I figure… Maybe we can start over, okay?” Glimmer asked. Felinia looked at her for a few seconds, before hesitantly nodding.

“Okay…”

As Felinia talked to Glimmer, Adora turned to Catra. She hadn’t been talking much and had barely been eating in the first place. Adora tapped her on the shoulder and raised her eyebrows, asking wordlessly if Catra wanted to talk in private.

Catra pondered the offer for a few seconds, before nodding and standing up. Adora followed her around Darla and to a few trees nearby, just away from everyone else. “You feeling okay?” Adora asked Catra.

“I… I don’t know,” Catra sighed, grabbing her own arm, “I know it sounds dumb, but what that kid said earlier… Confusing Felinia for me… It just sent a bunch of thoughts to my head. Felinia keeps reminding me of who I was. That hair used to be similar to mine… Back when all I did was hurt people…”

Adora listened closely. She knew Catra needed to vent.

“I’m trying so hard to just see Felinia as my sister, and it works sometimes… But there’s just this itch. These memories… And combine that with the nightmares… Everything that happened on Beast Island… I…” Catra tried to force out more words, but none came, and she eventually hung her head. “I’m a wreck, Adora. A worthless wreck.”

Adora silently reached out and placed a hand on Catra’s, grabbing it gently and stroking Catra’s palm. “I sometimes wonder…” Catra said, “what would’ve happened if Felinia never gave me to the Horde. If she tried to protect me alongside herself… I would’ve never met you. I would’ve been a different person. Maybe a better person.”

“Maybe. And what if I was never brought to Etheria as a baby? What if I was raised as a First One?” Adora asked. “We can spend hours thinking about all this, but we’ll never reach an accurate answer. It’s not worth dreading on the past if we can’t change it. You are who you are now, Catra. You’re the woman I love more than anything in the entire galaxy.”

“Meeting you was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I would never change that,” Catra replied, resting a gentle hand on Adora’s cheek. “Maybe you, me and Felinia could’ve lived as outcasts… Surviving from place to place…”

“But then we’d never have our friends here,” Adora sighed. “What we have now is a future to look forward to. We’ve both made mistakes in the past. But we can change the future. And we… We have a bright future, Catra. With our friends. With Felinia.”

“Do you think Mara and Angella will be there?” Catra asked.

“I hope so,” Adora smiled. “Felinia has brought us a lot of happiness with those two, despite some speedbumps. It’s the same with us. We’ve had our troubles. They’ve been really big troubles… But now, I’m happy. I’m happy I’m with you. I’m happy I’m with friends who love me as much as I love them. Are you happy?”

Catra looked to Adora, and then to Felinia. “Under these stars…” Catra sighed. “With you… With my sister… With these people… On this planet… Hearing their laughter…”

Catra pushed forehead against Adora’s and smiled. “I’ve never been happier.”

* * *

“Catra, can I talk to you in private?” Felinia asked.

The ship had landed outside of Bright Moon late at night, and the team entered the large castle ready for bed. Catra looked to her sister and shrugged. “Sure. But remember that we have to talk to everyone tomorrow, okay?”

“Tomorrow… Yeah. Okay,” Felinia nodded, leading Catra away from everyone else.

“Hey Mara, does it get lonely in that room of yours?” Bow asked as he walked alongside Mara, Glimmer and Adora. Angella had gone off to her own bedroom for the night.

“Just a tad. But it’s not a problem, really!” Mara chuckled, waving her hand in dismissal.

“Would you say no to a sleepover?” Bow asked with a wide grin. Mara instinctively shook her head, not wanting to waste anyone’s time. But eventually, she slowly changed her mind as she nodded, a wide smile plastered onto her face.

“I would really like that,” Mara answered. Bow cheered, looking to Adora and Glimmer.

“You two are joining us, right?” He asked them. Adora and Glimmer looked to each other and shrugged.

“It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do,” Glimmer replied.

“I’ll see if I can get Catra and Felinia in too once they’re done talking,” Adora beamed.

“That sounds great!” Mara smiled. “Thank you all… It means a lot that you want to spend time with me.”

“You’re our friend, Mara. Of course we want to spend time with you. Plus, the more She-Ra’s, the better!” Bow laughed.

The four of them walked through the long halls of Bright Moon towards Mara’s bedroom. The hallway was rather long, but it gave enough time for Adora, Bow and Glimmer to talk amongst themselves about whatever topics came to mind. They were used to talking about pointless but fun things.

They had become so distracted in their conversation, they failed to notice Mara completely stopping in her tracks. She stood still as the other three walked ahead of her. Mara had an empty look in her eyes, and she felt her heart come to a stop as she watched everyone else walk ahead of her.

Adora, Bow and Glimmer. The Best Friends Squad. Mara watched them. She stood still and watched them. They were distracted. Vulnerable.

They didn’t notice Mara had summoned a sword in her hand.

* * *

Felinia had led Catra up to a high point in Bright Moon. It was a small room with a few books strewn about, almost like a study. “You come here often?” Catra asked Felinia.

“When I need to read and the library is too distracting,” Felinia responded. “I just have a few questions for my sister.”

“Sure. I’m feeling pretty okay,” Catra shrugged, crossing her arms as she looked at Felinia. However, Felinia did not return eye contact as she kept her back turned to Catra.

“Are you… truly happy, Catra?” Felinia asked. The same question yet again. Catra almost wondered if Felinia had been listening in to her talk with Adora.

“Yeah. I have a wonderful girlfriend, amazing friends, and a pretty bright future. It’s got its ups and downs, but I’m pretty happy here. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this before,” Catra shrugged. Felinia took a deep breath, still refusing to look at Catra.

“Are you happy… that I’m here?” Felinia asked. Catra raised an eyebrow, but decided to go along with it.

“I am. It was weird at first, but I’m glad to know I have a sister. You’re pretty cool,” Catra replied.

“So… if you’re happy here… and you’re happy with me… then what would you choose?”

Catra felt completely lost. “I don’t understand?”

“If you had to choose between this place and your own sister, what would it be?” Felinia asked, raising her voice suddenly. It startled Catra slightly.

“Felinia, I don’t get what you’re trying to say…”

“Them or me?!” Felinia suddenly yelled, causing Catra to jump.

“Both! I don’t know! Why do I have to choose between anything?!” Catra asked. Felinia didn’t respond, instead taking a few more deep breaths. Still, she refused to look at Catra.

“… Come with me, Catra. I can get you out of here,” Felinia suddenly offered.

“But… I don’t want to get out of here. Why don’t you just stay here with us? I already told you, I’m happy with my friends and I’m happy with you. There’s no reason for me to pick anything. Felinia, you’re… you’re scaring me,” Catra spoke honestly.

“So your friends won’t even let you leave this place…” Felinia sighed.

“That’s not what I said. If you want me to go somewhere with you for a bit, I’m more than happy. I’d have to let them know, but as long as I come back eventually, I think they’d be cool with it,” Catra explained. Felinia’s hands tightened into fists.

“As long as you come back…” Felinia growled. “So my theory is correct…”

“Your theory…?”

“You’ve changed, Catra. From a ruthless soldier in the Horde to… to this? It doesn’t make sense. For the last few days, I keep hearing different stories about you. Some of them describe you as an evil monster, and others describe you as a hero. Nothing matches up,” Felinia said. “But… then it just linked.”

“What linked? Felinia, I… I used to do some bad stuff, yes. But I’m trying to be a better person now. Do you think I’m still a monster?” Catra asked.

“I don’t know,” Felinia said bluntly. “But that’s not the point. I remember reading that Horde Prime chipped his enemies and made them work for him… He used mind control… And I never, ever thought anyone else could swoop so low to his level. But… now I realize that this alliance is willing to do anything to get you on their side.”

“You’re not saying…” Catra shook her head. “Felinia, I was chipped by Horde Prime and it scarred me. I have nightmares about that. But Adora, Entrapta, Glimmer… They saved me! They got the chip out of my body! I live under my own free will now!”

“Catra, just… stop,” Felinia sighed. “I get it now. I know you won’t confess because you can’t. But I’ve figured it out. I know that the Princess Alliance are keeping you under their control. I know that they forced you to be with Adora.”

“You’re insane! Are you listening to yourself?!” Catra said, but Felinia ignored her.

“The real Catra would’ve understood why I lied to everyone… The real Catra would’ve remembered her own sister and mother… The real Catra wouldn’t suddenly join an alliance she had been fighting for years. You’re not the real Catra. But I know you’re still there… trapped deep in your body…”

“Felinia, stop! None of this is true!” Catra cried.

“I know you’re suffering, Catra! I know you desperately want to get out of here but you can’t!” Felinia yelled, her voice shaking slightly. “But… you don’t have to worry anymore… Because…”

Felinia took a breath. “Because I’m going to be your superhero. I’m going to keep my promise.”

“What…?” Catra could barely comprehend these words.

“I always thought I’d have to save you from the Horde. But now… it’s a different enemy… No matter. I still have to save you, one way or another,” Felinia said as she finally turned around. Her cheeks were stained with tears, but she pushed through, holding a hand out to Catra. “Come with me. I’m your sister. I know you’re still there, Catra. We can break their grip on you and free you from their mind control. I can save you, after all these years.”

Catra looked at Felinia’s hand, and only took a few steps back, shaking her head and looking at Felinia with wide eyes. “No… No, I’m not going anywhere with you. If anything, I should call for Adora or someone. You’re… You’re not right, Felinia. I don’t know what’s gotten into you…”

Felinia slowly lowered her hand, sighing sadly. “I see. Their grip on you is too strong. And I was really starting to like them too… They seemed like good people. But I know the truth. In order to save you… I have to take out those who hold a grip over you. I have to… get rid of them.”

“Felinia.” Catra spoke sternly. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing… Don’t do it. If you hurt any of them…”

“It’s too late,” Felinia spoke softly as looked to Catra with sadness in her eyes. A cold chill shot down Catra’s spine as Felinia spoke her next words.

“I’ve already got one of them.”

* * *

No one could’ve stopped Mara as she drove her sword straight through Bow’s stomach.

It was like time had stopped. The tip of the sword was poking out the front of his stomach, covering in his fresh blood. Adora felt utterly paralyzed. This couldn’t be real. This was some sick nightmare.

Glimmer felt horror in every single part of her body. She could only watch as Bow let out a grunt, his blood running down the sword as he felt his breath leave him. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he lost consciousness as Mara pulled her sword out of his body.

“BOW!” Glimmer cried in a desperate voice, grabbing him as he fell to the ground. Instantly, her hands were coated with wet blood from his wound. He was still breathing, but she had no idea how long for. Mara looked down at them, and raised her sword again, bringing it down and aiming for Glimmer’s neck.

Suddenly, Adora felt movement return to her body as she summoned her own sword, blocking Mara’s just in time. A loud clang echoed through the hallway as blade met blade. Mara pushed against Adora, but the current She-Ra held still.

“Glimmer, get him out of here, fast! I can heal him, but we need a better spot!” Adora spoke. The words barely processed as Glimmer could only hear a high-pitched ringing. She could only look down at Bow in sorrow, pressing both hands over his wound in a fruitless attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Glimmer!” Adora yelled, snapping her out of a trance. Glimmer looked up to Adora, who was using all of her strength to hold back Mara. “Get out of here! We can still save him, but we need to be fast!”

“Adora…” Glimmer spoke quietly, but Adora was distracted as Mara suddenly kneed her in the stomach. Adora felt wind leave her lungs, but she barely brought her sword up in time to block Mara’s swing.

Glimmer took that as her cue to wrap Bow’s arm around her shoulder and carry him towards the exit of Bright Moon, away from the clashing She-Ra’s. Adora defended her as she managed to get away with Bow’s unconscious body, and when Glimmer and Bow were out of sight, Adora looked to Mara. “Why…?” Adora asked in horror.

This was the woman she had a heart-to-heart with a few days ago. The woman she grieved for. This was Mara, the previous She-Ra who sacrificed everything and deserved a better chance at life. And now she held a sword in her hands, coated in Bow’s blood, and ready to spill Adora’s too.

Mara gave no response. She held the sword tight and readied her body into a fighting stance. She was ready to kill Adora. It was then that Adora knew that this wasn’t Mara. She was a hollow clone. “Felinia…” Adora whispered to herself. Was it her fault? Did she have any control over this?

There was no time to think. Adora knew she’d have to defend herself and the people around her. She gripped her sword tight. She looked at her opponent.

And that’s when she saw that Mara had no light in her eyes anymore.


	11. Empty Eyes

Adora looked into Mara’s eyes, and she knew that this wasn’t the same person she had grown to love over the last few days.

It had been a long time since Adora felt nervous to hold her sword in her hands. A slight tremble came from her palms, but it was barely noticeable. Her mind was screaming at her to not do this. Do not fight Mara.

But at the same time, there was no other choice available. Something had happened, and Mara tried to kill Bow. She tried to kill Adora’s best friend. She was a threat. She had turned from friend to foe in the blink of an eye. Adora hated the fact that she was used to this.

“Please… I don’t want to do this,” Adora cried out as she lowered her sword slightly. “I know you don’t either, Mara. I know you’re still there. Come back… We don’t have to fight…”

It almost felt wrong to say. After all, Bow was bleeding out because of her. But Adora knew she’d never do that willingly. She refused to believe Mara would ever turn on them. Adora pleaded, and she waited for the light to return to Mara’s eyes.

But it never came.

Adora gritted her teeth, held her sword tight, and focused her thoughts on the task at hand. It was hard to focus on anything. Her mind was racing with so many theories as to why any of this was happening. Whose fault was it? Why was she doing this? Is Bow going to die? Is she going to die? Adora felt nervous, confused and miserable.

“Please…” Adora muttered one last time. A last chance. A last hope.

Mara charged forward, ready to kill Adora.

Immediately, Adora had to raise her sword to block Mara’s furious swings. The loud clangs of their dance echoed throughout the halls as Mara landed three swings in, before Adora parried the fourth and sent Mara stumbling forward, slightly off balance.

Adora could’ve taken the opportunity to strike Mara from behind, but her arms refused to move. She had no intention of hurting this woman she had grown so close to, especially when it seemed like Mara wasn’t even in control of her own actions.

Mara recovered her balance and let out a growl, a sound Adora had never heard come from her before. She jabbed her sword towards Adora’s heart, aiming to stab her. Adora dodged to the left, but Mara quickly recovered, spinning and bringing the sword down on Adora.

Adora had to block yet again, holding back Mara’s immense strength with her own. Whilst she was distracted by holding back Mara’s sword, the former She-Ra took the chance to grab Adora by the scruff of her jacket and toss her towards one end of the hall.

Adora rolled against the ground as she was thrown by Mara. She looked to see that Mara was tossing her in the direction of a balcony, where a long drop awaited her. Adora quickly stood up, panting as Mara walked towards her.

Neither of them had transformed into She-Ra yet. Adora still did not want to hurt her. She wanted to find some way to take down Mara without causing her pain. There was little room to do that, but Adora still believed in a chance.

At the same time, she was surprised Mara had not turned into She-Ra herself. She did say she would never want to transform. Perhaps that part of her was still there? That desire to be a normal person?

Suddenly, Mara pointed the sword towards Adora. The latter gasped and barely had time to transform her weapon into a shield as a large beam of energy was fired at Adora from Mara’s sword. It hit the shield and scattered off into different directions, destroying parts of the roof and the walls.

Soon enough, the beam ceased, but Adora quickly felt a rope twist around her ankle. She had a second to process the fact that Mara had transformed her weapon into a whip, before Adora was suddenly yanked towards Mara.

As Adora was pulled towards Mara, she suddenly felt Mara’s hand around her throat when she was within range. She looked down to see Mara was choking her, trying to kill her. Her face was full of rage as she gritted her teeth and glared at Adora. Her hand squeezed tighter as she attempted to crush Adora’s neck.

The light was still absent from her eyes.

Adora was only choked for a few seconds before she managed to get a leg up, kicking at Mara’s face and using the momentum to jump backwards away from Mara. The previous She-Ra grunted from the kick in the face, before charging at Adora again with an enraged cry, transforming her whip back into a sword.

A barrage of swings hit Adora before she could catch her breath. Adora just barely managed to block each of them with her shield, and as soon as the window of opportunity presented itself, Adora threw her body weight against Mara and bumped her into the ground, putting some distance between them.

Adora hadn’t even attempted to swing at Mara. She panted as she got some breathing room and small amount of time to think. Somehow, Felinia had to be behind this. Whether intentional or not, Mara had no reason to go berserk and try to kill Bow. Her personality had done a complete radical change, almost like she was chipped by Horde Prime.

Felinia’s extreme emotions could control her clones. Earlier that day, her terror of being tackled to the ground by Catra caused Mara and Angella to scream out in horror. But Adora wondered why Felinia would be out to kill Bow or any of them.

As Adora thought about Felinia, she suddenly remembered that the last time she saw Felinia just earlier, she was asking Catra to have a talk in private.

“Felinia’s with Catra…” Adora whispered to herself. If Felinia had used Mara to try and kill Bow, what does that mean for Catra? Is Catra okay? Adora’s eyes went wide at the thought of Catra’s safety.

That second of vulnerability was enough for Mara to charge at Adora, wrapping her arms around Adora’s waist and tackling her towards the balcony. Adora felt her back hit the edge of the balcony, and looked over to see the long, long drop below. She can’t die now. She had to know if Catra was okay or not.

Adora put a hand on Mara’s face, pushing her away to try and break her grip. She refused to use her weapon still. Mara used every bit of strength she could to try and flip Adora over the balcony edge, but Adora resisted with all her might.

Not until Catra was okay. Adora refused to die until Catra was safe.

“Please, Mara! Please snap out of this!” Adora begged, continuing to push Mara away. “Catra might be in danger! We can save her! We can save Bow! I know this isn’t you! Please, Mara!”

She looked into Mara’s eyes. She hoped for a change. She hoped for anything to change. She hoped for Catra to be okay. She hoped for Bow to be okay. Adora didn’t want to lose anyone. She had to live to save Bow. To save Catra. To save Mara.

“PLEASE!” Adora screamed at Mara, just wanting a response.

Nothing came.

But the few seconds of weakness as Adora begged were enough for Mara to slightly overpower Adora, and successfully push her over the edge of the balcony, and towards the long drop below.

* * *

Adrenaline rushed through Glimmer’s veins as Bow’s blood covered her clothes.

She made her way to the throne room, using her body weight to hold up Bow and drag him. She didn’t want to risk teleportation with him in such a critical state. Besides, she was looking for someone who might be able to help.

“Mom!” Glimmer called out as she tried to look for Angella. Mara may have gone berserk, but Glimmer held onto a shred of hope that maybe Angella was still on their side. In the back of her mind, she had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case. But she had to see for herself.

Bow was still breathing, but it was growing weaker over time. “Dammit, stay here! You can’t leave me!” Glimmer cried to him, knowing her voice was falling on deaf ears. She had to hold back the tears as she screamed again. “MOM!”

Just then, Glimmer heard footsteps behind her, and quickly turned around to see the person she was looking for. Angella approached her, completely alone. The light of the moon behind her covered her in darkness, but Glimmer could not smile upon seeing her. She had no idea if Angella was trustworthy or not.

“Mara… She’s turned. I don’t know what happened, but she’s stabbed Bow. He might not have long left!” Glimmer cried out. His red, wet blood soaked half of her clothes, but she didn’t care. She approached Angella slowly. “You can help… right?”

In Glimmer’s mind, there may have been a chance that at that moment, Angella would’ve done everything in her power to save Bow. She would’ve fought Mara and maybe even won. In some other time, Angella would still be Glimmer’s mother. She’d protect her daughter, no matter the cost.

This was not the time.

Angella raised a hand, aiming it at Glimmer, and charged up an energy beam.

Glimmer didn’t even feel really betrayed. She knew this was coming. She knew she was dumb to think otherwise. She just wanted her mom back. It still hurt. She looked at Angella, and saw a faint outline of her face.

She looked at Glimmer with pure hatred. Her eyes were devoid of light.

Glimmer dodged to the side as Angella fired a single blast, blowing up bits of the room as Glimmer dodged just in time. It was immensely difficult with Bow in her arms. She didn’t want to take the risk in teleporting, but she knew she was running out of options.

Angella charged up another shot, and fired a continuous beam that Glimmer attempted to outrun. It would’ve been a futile effort, and it came close to incinerating Glimmer and Bow. Soon enough, Glimmer took the risk and held Bow close, before teleporting outside of Bright Moon, landing on the edge of the Whispering Woods.

“Bow!” Glimmer cried out, immediately checking him to see if the teleportation had done anything. His breathing was still there, and when she pressed an ear to his chest, she heard his heartbeat. The same heartbeat when they cuddled together just last night.

Immediately, the moment was cut as Glimmer looked up to see Angella launch into the air, spreading her wings and flying up. She quickly spotted Glimmer and Bow, and flew down to the ground, standing before them.

“Mom… Please don’t do this…” Glimmer begged, holding Bow close. “He’s going to die… We have to save him…”

Angella looked at Glimmer and Bow. Slowly, she brought up two hands. A small amount of hesitation preceded Angella charging up a large beam.

Glimmer knew there was no getting to her. She knew that Angella was going to kill them. So, in a second of thought, Glimmer laid Bow down and stood before him, holding out both hands and forming a magical shield.

Angella fired the beam, and it smashed against Glimmer’s shield in a spectacular light show.

Almost instantly, the shield started to grow weak from Angella’s immensely large blast. Glimmer felt her feet slide back a tad, her arms burning from having to hold the shield. She let out a cry of pain as the shield slowly began to give away.

Glimmer came to the realization that she was going to die.

She was going to be killed by her own mother. Glimmer looked over her shoulder at Bow. His eyes were shut, and his breath was weak. She knew that if she had to die, she had to do it protecting him. There was no other choice.

And so, Glimmer pushed forward, hoping to take most of the blast so that Bow won’t get hit. She felt her throat tighten and her eyes well up, but she felt determined to save Bow, no matter the cost. She stood.

Glimmer prepared to die for the man she loved.

* * *

“You’ve got one of them? What… What do you mean?” Catra asked her sister.

“It means I’ve done what had to be done,” Felinia replied, her cold eyes staring into Catra’s frightened ones. “I know you’ll hate for me it. I’m prepared to face the consequences. But one day, we’ll both know this is the right choice.”

Soon enough, Catra heard the cry of Glimmer’s voice, screaming out Bow’s name. “Mara… Mara was with them…” Catra’s voice went hoarse. “You…”

“He’s the first victim, unfortunately,” Felinia sighed sadly. “I hope it’s quick. What they did to you was cruel, but I don’t like making people suffer.”

Catra’s eyes stared at Felinia. Her confusion was still there. Her shock was still there. But Catra’s body was soon overcome with one emotion: pure and utter rage.

She stormed towards Felinia, and grabbed her sister by the shirt, smashing her against the wall. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Catra screamed in her face.

“I did what I had to! I did what was right! I’m trying to save my sister, dammit!” Felinia screamed back. “They have to die, Catra! I can’t let them control you anymore!”

“When did I ask for this?! What could’ve possibly made you think this?!” Catra asked as her voice choked up in a mixture of grief and anger.

“Do you think I enjoy doing this?!” Felinia’s eyes slowly welled with tears. “I loved them too, Catra! I could see that they made you happy! But what they’re doing to you is sick, and what you’re feeling isn’t true happiness! I know this is going to hurt for both of us, but there’s no other choice here!”

Catra panted for a few seconds, her body shaking with anger as she stared at her older sister. In a fit of rage, Catra immediately extended her claws and swung them at Felinia. Before she could make the hit, she felt Felinia’s foot smash her in the stomach, sending Catra flying back a few feet.

“I don’t want to fight you!” Felinia cried out. “Never in my life did I ever dream about hurting you after I gave you to the Horde! I agonized over this for days! But I have to think in the long term here. Nothing adds up. You’re not the real Catra, but I know you’re still there, trapped in your own body. I have to save you. I have to save you. Dammit, I have to save you!”

“Felinia…” Catra gritted her teeth, slowly standing to her feet. “Make this stop… Or I am going to make you suffer.”

“You don’t mean that,” Felinia shook her head.

“Try me.”

Felinia’s eyes widened as she stared at Catra’s enraged face. She knew in that moment that a fight was the only way to break Catra free. She readied herself, but soon enough, they were interrupted.

“PLEASE!” Adora’s voice cried out in the distance. Catra’s head instantly shot towards that direction, and she looked out the window to see, just below her, Mara holding Adora over a balcony.

“Adora!” Catra cried out. She looked back to Felinia for a few seconds, hesitating between saving the one she loves, or fighting the one who was controlling all this. But soon enough, the decision was made for her, as Mara suddenly threw Adora over the balcony. “NO!” Catra screamed, and without a split second of hesitation, she jumped through the window, smashing it and diving towards the woman she loves.

In hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest idea to jump out a window and make a long drop for Adora. It’s not like Catra could do much. But her mind screamed at her to save the one she loves, and so, she jumped. Catra straightened her body, falling quickly and, when she was in reach, wrapping her arms around Adora.

“C… Catra?!” Adora cried, realizing who was holding onto her. They both fell, but the shock of Catra suddenly grabbing her was enough for Adora to turn her weapon back into a sword and stab it into a nearby wall.

Immediately, Adora felt like her arm would be torn out of its socket. She cried out in pain, but held on, her bicep tensing as she slowed her and Catra’s descent a considerable amount. When they hit the ground, all they felt was tingles from their feet.

“Adora, what happened?! Are you alright?!” Catra asked frantically, immediately checking Adora for any major injuries. She noticed a few bruises from Mara’s hits.

“I could ask the same of you!” Adora said in return. They soon both realized neither of them was critically injured. “Mara, she… she’s stabbed Bow…”

“What?!” Catra yelled.

“I think we can still save him, but we have to be quick!” Adora spoke, but soon enough, their talk was cut short as a large beam of light was fired near the edge of the Whispering Woods. The two women turned to see the blast being directed at Glimmer, who was only just managing to hold it off with a magical shield.

Adora and Catra immediately made their way over, and once they were within range, Adora raised her sword, firing a beam at Angella. It wasn’t strong enough to kill her, but it was enough for Angella to notice and be forced to use her other hand to block the blast.

This weakened her beam against Glimmer, and Adora put more strength into her blast, forcing Angella to block it with two hands. This freed up Glimmer, who did not hesitate for grab Bow and make a run into the woods.

“Adora, let’s go!” Catra cried, and Adora immediately ceased her attack against Angella, making a break for the woods. She fully expected Angella to give chase, but to her surprise, the former queen of Bright Moon stood still and watched them run.

She knew they’d be back.

Adora and Catra ran deep into the woods and caught up with Glimmer and Bow. They were all nearly out of breath, and the moment of calmness was very brief before Glimmer lowered Bow to the ground. “We have to save him,” Glimmer spoke.

“Oh crap…” Catra’s eyes widened upon seeing the stab wound. Her mind raced with thoughts of Felinia. She did this. She tried to kill Bow.

Adora got on her knees and put her hands over Bow’s wound. “You can save him, right? Please tell me you can save him!” Glimmer cried, finally letting a tear run loose down her cheek as she yelled at Adora.

Adora looked up to see tears slowly begin to stream down Glimmer’s cheeks. Her voice wavered and her throat tightened as she held Bow close. Adora looked back down at the wound, and her body gave off a gold glow as she pressed her hands gently against the wound. Over the course of a few seconds, Bow’s wound began to seal back up as Adora used her healing powers.

Eventually, the only trace of the wound was a light scar and blood coating his and Glimmer’s body. “He’ll be okay, but he’s going to feel that for a while. He needs some rest,” Adora spoke, but Glimmer didn’t hear a word as she immediately held Bow close.

“I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry, Bow… It should’ve been me…” Glimmer cried, burying her finger in Bow’s hair as she hugged him. The situation finally collapsed on Glimmer. She had let Bright Moon fall to Felinia. She had let Bow nearly die. She nearly let herself get killed by Angella.

Glimmer felt like a complete and utter failure. She sobbed into Bow’s shoulder as she hugged him.

Adora looked over to Catra, who simply had a distraught look, her eyes wide. Catra tried to piece together the signs. She was trying to figure out what had led to all of this. What caused Felinia to think the Alliance was controlling her. Catra fell back, sitting on the grass and bringing her knees up to her chest in quiet shock.

Catra felt completely lost, and completely miserable.

Adora herself was simply in grief. She saw nothing but a thirst for blood in Mara’s empty eyes. Once again, Mara had been used by outside forces to do something she never wanted to do. Mara had been fooled and forced to destroy. She was given a second chance at life, and it ended the same way.

Adora felt tears stain her cheeks, and she quickly tried to rub them away. She tried to be strong, but she knew it was all crashing down. She gritted her teeth and felt sobs come. Painful, agonizing sobs that exploded from the pit of her stomach and squeezed her heart in agony.

Everything had changed. They knew they had failed. The ones they grew to love and trust had turned on them and tried to kill them.

Bright Moon had fallen.


	12. The Calm Before The Storm

Bow slowly felt his eyes open to the night sky, filled with beautiful stars.

He felt a cold breeze softly touch his skin, and he looked down to see that he was laying on grass. He quickly realized he was somewhere in the Whispering Woods, though he wasn’t sure why.

He tried to sit up, but immediately felt a hand on his shoulder. “Careful,” he heard Glimmer’s voice whisper. He looked to his right to see the Queen of Bright Moon, looking up at him with a worried eyes.

“What happened…?” Bow asked, putting a hand over his stomach. But as soon as he asked that, he remembered the answer. He remembered the sword being driven through his stomach. The pain was numb in that moment thanks to the sudden rush of adrenaline, but it quickly became too much and everything went black.

He remembered thinking that he was going to die. He was afraid to lose everything he had worked so hard for. He was afraid to lose his friends. He was afraid to lose Glimmer.

“It’s my fault…” Glimmer sighed, looking down at the floor as she kept a gentle hand on Bow’s shoulder. “I should have seen this coming. I should have done a better job at protecting you. I should have…”

“Glimmer, no one here is to blame for this,” Adora’s voice spoke up, and Bow looked over to see his other best friend. “Mara and Angella have gone berserk, Bow. Mara tried to kill you and me.”

“What?” Bow asked, genuinely not believing his ears. It felt like a few seconds ago that he was planning a sleepover with Mara.

“Felinia… She did this,” Catra spoke up. She had her legs brought up to her chest and Adora’s hand on her back.

“I don’t understand. Isn’t she your sister? Why would she try to hurt us like this when she knows it’ll upset you?” Bow asked, trying to stand up, but feeling a sudden pain in his stomach.

“Careful! Adora healed you but it’s still going to hurt,” Glimmer explained to him as he sat back down. Bow hated being the weak one here. He didn’t want to drag everyone else down.

“She is my sister. That’s exactly why all this happened,” Catra sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. “She seemed to think that you were all… controlling me or something. She wanted to save me.”

“Why does she think we’re controlling you? Can’t she see that you’re happy here?” Bow asked.

“She thinks it’s similar to how Horde Prime chipped his enemies,” Catra explained. “I’m… I’m such a bad person that me being happy with you all was something she couldn’t comprehend. She must’ve heard so many stories about what I did in the Horde and just assumed I would always be like that. She must’ve assumed that I’d never change.”

“Catra…” Adora rubbed circles around Catra’s back with her hand, attempting to comfort her.

“I don’t want any more of you to get hurt. I almost got you killed, Bow,” Catra looked to him, her eyes stinging red. “Just… let me turn myself in. If she takes me away, all of this will be fixed.”

“Is that… what you want?” Glimmer asked.

“No! But it’s the only way out of this! She has two incredibly powerful people on her side and they’re out to kill all of you!” Catra declared. “Let me go… You’ll be better off without me.”

“You know we can’t do that, Catra. You worked so hard for happiness and we can’t just let it get taken away,” Adora consoled her, but Catra shook her head.

“You don’t get it. If she kills you all, I’d never be able to live with myself. I can barely forgive myself for what I did in the Horde!” Catra gritted her teeth, trying her best to hold back tears, but at a futile effort. “I’m sick of hurting people…”

“No one has to die, Catra. Felinia caught us off guard but we’ll be ready this time,” Adora replied. Catra could barely respond through her sobs as she buried her face in her arms. Her body shaking with misery as Adora held her close.

“So Felinia’s curse is what made Mara and Angella turn. They’re not doing it out of their own free will,” Bow concluded. “Maybe we can get the rest of the Alliance back here to help us? Mara and Angella are extremely powerful, we’re going to need more people.”

“We’ve got no reliable way of contacting them. They’re too spread out,” Glimmer replied. “Besides, we don’t know when Felinia will send Angella and Mara after us. They let us go for now, but that might change. If we want to fight back and have the element of surprise, we need to do it sooner rather than later, with the people we have here.”

“Fight back? Against Mara? Against Angella?” Adora asked, her arms still around Catra.

“I know how much it’s going to hurt. Each of them are close to us. I don’t want to hurt my own mother, but we don’t have a choice,” Glimmer shook her head. “They’re not the real person, Adora. They’re a hollow clone. We let them trick us into thinking otherwise.”

Adora wanted to respond, but she knew there was no arguing against that. There was no choice. They had to fight those that they loved in order to take back Bright Moon. “I’ll let everyone rest up and prepare for a while. But then we need to fight,” Glimmer declared.

And so, everyone was left to their own thoughts for a short while. A time to process those they were about to fight, and the necessary actions they must take to protect Bright Moon and everyone’s lives.

It was the calm before the storm, and the storm brought about the possibility of a fatal end.

* * *

“This is my fault. You know that, right?”

It had been a few minutes before Catra spoke up again. Her voice was weak and tired, and her eyes were still red and stinging. Adora sighed. “Catra… I already told Glimmer this. No one here is responsible for what’s happened.”

“You’re wrong,” Catra shook her head. “You’re so wrong, Adora. The only reason Felinia doing this is because I’m such a monster. If I hadn’t done such terrible things in the past… Maybe she would’ve accepted me. Maybe she wouldn’t have hurt you all…”

“You can’t let this get to your head, Catra. You weren’t the one that made Mara stab Bow and try to kill me. You weren’t the one that made Angella try to kill her own daughter. Felinia’s way of thinking about this isn’t right, and the fact she won’t even listen to you is horrible,” Adora spoke softly.

“I should’ve seen this coming… I shouldn’t have let them hurt everyone… Mara hurt you and I let it happen… I should have just gone along with Felinia… I should have…”

But before Catra could finish, Adora wrapped her arms around her and held her close. She hugged Catra and ran her hand through Catra’s hair, comforting the woman she loved. “I’m sorry, Adora… I keep getting people hurt… I keep screwing everything up…” Catra spoke in a hoarse voice.

“You haven’t done anything wrong here,” Adora replied. “Felinia should be listening to you. She should be understanding that you can change. She should be accepting of you. She should love you as her sister, no matter what. Felinia is in the wrong here. No matter what she says or does, she’s wrong to convince you otherwise.”

“She… She didn’t say it was my fault actually,” Catra said, holding onto Adora’s arm. “She sees me as some… victim that she has to save. Like I can’t even fight for myself.”

“She doesn’t know how strong you are. She doesn’t know how much you fight. She has no clue just how bold you are,” Adora whispered. “She may be your sister, but she doesn’t know the woman I love more than anything.”

“But… she’s still my sister,” Catra agonized. “She’s my only family. I don’t… I don’t think it’s right to hate her.”

“No one is asking you to hate her. But just because she’s family doesn’t mean she gets to hurt you or the ones you love. She has no right to do this. You never asked to be saved. She assumed she knew what was right for you, and that’s not okay. Her being family doesn’t give her a free pass,” Adora responded, looking Catra in the eyes as she spoke.

“You’re probably right… I still feel like I should hate her for hurting everyone. But… I don’t know if I can. I’m angry and upset, but… I don’t despise her. Even in this twisted belief of hers, she’s trying to save my life. I think she really cares about me,” Catra said.

“I know she loves you. But sometimes love can be twisted. Felinia may have good intentions, but she’s still hurting you and the people you care about without even talking to you. She needs to listen to you and understand you. She needs to understand that you’re a better person now. And if she can’t understand that…” Adora didn’t want to finish the sentence, but both of them knew what she was trying to say.

“I… still want a sister in my life. I care about her. I just wish she could understand my side of things…” Catra, out of nowhere, suddenly let out a scoff. “This must be how you felt about me all those years, right?”

“I didn’t want to bring it up, but…” Adora couldn’t say no to her. She had definitely drawn comparisons between her experience and what Catra was going through.

“Still… You say I’m a better person now. I think that’s because I was surrounded by the right people. And I realized that love wasn’t a limited resource. So… if I can change, maybe Felinia can?” Catra asked.

“It’s possible. But at the same time, it’s something that has to be done on her part. She has to make the effort to understand and accept you as well. This shouldn’t be an effort entirely on your behalf. If she’s to change… she has to want it,” Adora said.

“But she also needs the opportunity. She needs to see that there can be a good future for her if she were to reach out for it. I just… hope she sees that opportunity,” Catra said, before letting out a sigh. “This… feels wrong. I mean, look how she hurt us. Does she even deserve forgiveness?”

“Forgiveness is an act of compassion, Catra. It’s not done because someone deserves it. It’s done because they need it,” Adora said. “Felinia has been isolated for twenty years. She’s gone so long without connection. Maybe she has trust issues. Maybe she’s been hurt by a lot of people. She’s gone through so much. It’s… ultimately up to the both of you. Whether you’re willing to give her the opportunity to change… and whether she’s willing to trust you and take that opportunity.”

Catra was silent for a while. She struggled with what to do. Felinia had hurt them dearly and might continue to do so. Catra knew this was something she needed to decide before she faced her sister. Does Felinia get to have a chance at change? Does she get to have a chance at a new life like Catra did?

“By the way…” Adora spoke up after a bit. “Was I imagining things, or did you jump out of a window for me when Mara threw me off the balcony?”

“Oh, I just knew you were going to bring this up,” Catra sighed as Adora let out a slight chuckle. “I know it looks dumb in hindsight but I was scared out of my mind, okay?! I thought I was going to lose you!”

“Hey, I thought it was cute!” Adora smirked, running her hand through Catra’s hair. “Besides… I do think you actually saved us.”

“How?”

“Well, when Mara threw me off, I was just… stunned,” Adora explained. “Everything felt like slow motion. Nothing made sense. I probably wouldn’t have been able to process the fact I was falling if you didn’t suddenly grab me. When I saw that you were falling with me, it made me realize that I had to do something to save both of us. You… snapped me out of a trance, to put it simply.”

“So what you’re saying is… You’re dumb unless I’m around?” Catra asked.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Adora chuckled as Catra snickered. Both women looked at each other and were finally able to smile for the first time in a while.

“Do you think we’re going to be okay?” Catra asked.

“I don’t know. But we’ll have each other. Facing Mara, Angella and Felinia is going to be tough… But we won’t be alone,” Adora replied. She placed a gentle hand on Catra’s cheek and stroked her softly with her thumb.

“I love you,” Catra whispered. She meant every word, just like she always did.

“I love you too,” Adora said. Finally, Catra leaned up and pressed her lips gently against Adora’s, placing her hand over her girlfriend’s. They shared their moment of passion and love.

They loved each other, and they never wanted to lose each other.

* * *

“How’re you feeling?” Glimmer asked Bow as he laid on the ground, looking up at her.

“Been better, I guess,” Bow answered, causing Glimmer to chuckle slightly. She held his hand in her own, stroking his palm with her thumb.

Glimmer was still just extremely relieved Bow was alive in the first place. The panic she felt from seeing him collapse to the ground with a hole in his stomach was enough to nearly drive her insane. She started thinking in that moment about all the things she should’ve said to him.

“I know those eyes,” Bow suddenly spoke to Glimmer. “Those are your sad eyes. What’s on your mind?”

“I just…” Glimmer sighed, hanging her head. “I fell for Felinia’s trick… I let mom’s presence get the better of me. I should’ve… I should’ve killed Angella when I had the chance. That wasn’t the real her. It wasn’t like I was losing anything…”

“Glimmer, you know how hard that would’ve been to do,” Bow replied. “That is such a huge burden to place on yourself. It’s unfair to think you’d have to do that.”

“I’m the Queen of Bright Moon! I have to make the tough choices for all of us! Who else is going to do it?!” Glimmer cried, berating herself. “I’m weak. I’m a failure. I let Bright Moon fall… now I don’t know if we’ll be able to get it back. And I nearly let you die.”

“Glimmer!” Bow suddenly spoke sternly, sending a shock through Glimmer’s body as she looked up at him. “You can’t blame yourself for everything. We’re alive because of you. You saved me from Mara and Angella. I owe you my life.”

“But you should’ve never even gotten hurt in the first place! Mara shouldn’t even be here, she’s… she’s dead! And so is Angella! The fact that we let them get to our heads is… I should’ve taken action earlier,” Glimmer said. “I just… I never want to see you hurt, Bow. I need to be the one who protects you.”

“No,” Bow shook his head, “we protect each other, okay? You’re not going to take the burden for both of us. You already have so much on your shoulders… Let me carry some of it for you. We’re in this together, and you can’t take the blame for everything. Especially this. Felinia was the one who made Mara do what she did to me. Not you.”

“You… I can’t burden you with something I have to take responsibility for,” Glimmer said.

“You’re not. I’m asking to share the load with you. I want to help you, Glimmer. Just like you help me,” Bow smiled. Glimmer looked at him, and her lips wobbled slightly as she tried to choke back her emotion.

“But now we have to fight Felinia… And after what happened, I’m… I’m scared, Bow,” Glimmer spoke, a slight shudder in her voice. “I’m scared to lose you. I’d have no idea what I’d do if you were gone. I…”

Glimmer rested a hand on Bow’s cheek. “I love you, Bow. I… I really, really love you.”

Those words came from deep within Glimmer’s heart. They were on the spot and out of nowhere. It was words Glimmer thought she’d never say, but in that moment, she didn’t care about the embarrassment or the possibility of rejection. She only cared about him and his safety. She cared about opening her heart to him.

“I love you too,” Bow replied.

It was like a shock to the senses. Glimmer never expected a response like that. They shared similar words back at the battle against Horde Prime, but it felt different back then. The way he spoke those words this time, it felt like something more.

“You… love me? As in… really love me?” Glimmer asked, and Bow nodded as he placed his hand over hers. “Even though I’m such a useless Queen, you still love me?”

“I already told you… You’re not a useless Queen,” Bow shook his head. “But even if you were the worst Queen in the world, I’d always love you. Because you’re Glimmer. And you mean everything to me. You’re not just a title. You’re a person. And you’re who I love more than anything.”

Glimmer looked down at him, and words lost all meaning in those few seconds. She had confessed to him, and he accepted it. It was every dream of hers come true, and it still didn’t feel real. She wanted to pinch herself, but at the same time, even if this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.

Glimmer stroked his cheek, and slowly, she leaned down towards him. Her heart was controlling her body, and Bow saw that she was coming closer. And to her surprise, he leaned up slightly to meet her. Her heart raced faster than it ever has, but she didn’t stop.

And eventually, she shared a kiss with him.

A spark of joy and love was ignited as their lips met for the first time. Glimmer always heard that first kisses are awkward, but for some reason, this felt genuine. It wasn’t perfect, but it was theirs. And that was all she ever needed.

The kiss didn’t last long as Bow had to lean back down, the pain in his side getting to him. Glimmer gently laid him down and smiled at him. “… Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Bow responded. The two of them smirked and exploded into gentle laughter. Their first kiss, and the words they spoke were so basic, like they had completed some transaction. They couldn’t help but find humor in how bland those words were, but at the same time, they loved the fact that it was theirs.

Glimmer looked at Bow as he laughed. She loved hearing his chuckles. Seeing his smile. “I… actually did kind of need that. Thanks, for real. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” Bow replied as he came down from his high of laughter, “I’ll be alright with enough rest. Besides, I have nurse Glimmer with me.”

“Oh please. I can barely look after myself,” Glimmer scoffed. Eventually, her hand found Bow’s, and their fingers intertwined. They held hands and looked into each other’s eyes. They each felt like the other person had somehow grown more beautiful in that moment.

It was a surge of warmth that they both needed.

* * *

“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” Glimmer started as Catra, Adora and Bow gathered near her. Though, it was mostly everyone gathering around Bow as he rested. “We have to strike now before anything else happens. Our main goal is to take down Felinia.”

“She’s probably going to have Mara and Angella guarding her from everyone except Catra,” Adora added.

“We could try just sending me. She won’t hurt me and I can try talking her down,” Catra offered, but Glimmer shook her head.

“There’s too much unpredictability with that. I think the reason she hasn’t sent Mara and Angella after us is because she doesn’t want Catra getting caught into the crossfire. Once she has Catra, it’s likely she’ll send those two after us at full force,” Glimmer said.

“So what are you proposing?” Bow asked.

“We need to create an opportunity to confront Felinia and take her down, and we need to make sure we’re not being pressured by two incredibly powerful people whilst that’s happening,” Glimmer said. “Adora, your job is going to be fighting Mara. I figure the only person that can beat She-Ra is another She-Ra. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Mara caught me off guard last time. But I don’t think she’s going to turn into She-Ra. She mentioned never wanting to do that, so that might give me an advantage,” Adora nodded.

“Good. Meanwhile, I’m going to be taking on mom… Angella. The Moonstone powers us both, so it’s the only way towards a fair fight,” Glimmer proposed.

“Glimmer, she’s incredibly powerful. Are you sure you can handle that?” Bow asked.

“I’m not sure. But we’re not necessarily trying to beat them. We’re trying to create a distraction so that Felinia can be confronted. And Catra…” Glimmer looked up to her. “That’s your job. Whilst Adora is fighting Mara and I’m taking on Angella, you need to go to any means necessary to get Felinia to stop. How do you feel about that?”

“I…” Catra sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. “I guess there’s no other way, really. We can’t all fight each person one at a time?”

Glimmer shook her head. “If we all tried to take on Mara, that’d give Angella a chance to take us by surprise, and vice versa. By distracting each of them, you’ll have enough time to do what you need to do.”

“Right…” Catra nodded. She soon felt Adora’s hand hold her own, squeezing gently to comfort her. “I can try talking to her, but she seems to think I have no will of my own. I might have to fight her.”

“Catra, we don’t know that yet,” Adora said. “If all goes well, Felinia should hopefully back down on her own.”

“She tried to kill Bow. I say you should take her down by force. She deserves to be punished for that,” Glimmer spoke harshly, with a hint of venom in her voice.

“I… I don’t know. I feel like you’re right, Glimmer. I should hate her, but… at the same time, I just want to give her a chance. But what if that’s the wrong thing to do? What if I make another bad decision and get us all killed?” Catra asked, feeling her heart begin to race.

But soon enough, Adora placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a bold smile. “I trust you. We trust you. Whatever you choose to do is up to you, and we know how strong you are. Do whatever feels right, Catra.”

Catra looked at her girlfriend for a few seconds, and returned the smile. Slowly, she stood to her feet.

“What about me?” Bow asked.

“You need to rest. I’m sorry, but we can’t risk you getting hurt,” Glimmer shook her head.

“Glimmer, remember what I said,” Bow spoke. “We help each other.”

Glimmer looked down at him and thought for a few seconds. Eventually, she grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. “If we need you… if I need you… I’ll let you know, okay?” Glimmer smiled. It wasn’t exactly what Bow wanted, but it was the best he was going to get given his situation.

“Now…” Glimmer stood up, and the three women looked towards Bright Moon.

“Let’s take back our kingdom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m interested to know what y’all would do about Felinia in this situation? Would you give her a chance or has she gone too far to earn a chance at redemption or forgiveness? One thing I love doing with my stories is presenting scenarios and questions to think about, and I always love hearing your thoughts in general :) 
> 
> As always, thank you for your support! This is now the last stretch of the story, and what everything has been building towards. Glimmer vs Angella, Adora vs Mara, and of course, Catra vs Felinia. I hope I can do my best to make an enjoyable and interesting story for y’all <3


	13. Queen of Bright Moon

The weight in Adora’s stomach grew heavier each moment they got closer to Bright Moon.

She walked alongside Catra and Glimmer to the large castle. They knew that they had to take it tonight or suffer the consequences. It was do or die.

Glimmer felt pressured to fight her own mother. Even if she wasn’t the real Angella, she was still an immensely powerful being who taught her almost everything she knew. The last time she saw Angella, she was nearly obliterated by her blast.

But most of all, the weight fell upon Catra’s shoulders. It was up to her to either convince or force her own sister to stop the attack, and if she didn’t succeed, it would likely spell disaster or even death. Neither of the three women talked to each other on the way there.

They were nervous, but there was no other choice to make.

Eventually, all three of them emerged from the Whispering Woods as their hearts pumped faster and faster. They were faced with Bright Moon, looking the same but having a sense of dread around it. There was no guards to help them out. They knew those guards had been taken down back at the initial attack, likely by Angella.

Adora spotted a figure waiting at the front door. It didn’t take long to realize who it was.

“Mara.”

Adora looked at the other She-Ra, standing tall with her hands firmly clasped around the handle of her sword. She was still in her regular form with the tip of the sword stabbed into the ground as she stood in long wait.

Mara felt the presence of the three rebels emerge from the woods, and she opened her eyes to instantly look at Adora. Their fight from earlier was not done yet.

Adora’s mind was screaming at her not to do this. Do not fight Mara. This is not her fault. She’s done nothing wrong. But no matter what, Adora had to push those thoughts away. It was a tough situation, but the only answer was to take on the other She-Ra.

Adora felt Catra grab her hand, and they looked into each other’s eyes. No words were expressed, but they knew that this may be the last time they ever get to see each other. Mara might easily obliterate Adora, or Felinia might have set a trap for Catra. So many things could go wrong that could end everything.

Mara was patient enough to grant them a last moment together. Adora slowly rested a hand upon Catra’s cheek, and shared what could be her last kiss with the woman she loved more than anything. Their kiss was passionate and intimate, their eyes closed as they held each other close.

Adora and Catra shared the most amount of love they could with that kiss. Adora wrapped a tight arm around Catra’s back, and Catra buried her hands within Adora’s long hair.

As they kissed, Catra noticed a golden glow emerge from Adora’s body. She opened her eyes as the glow faded to find that she was now kissing She-Ra. Adora had transformed already, and Catra slowly separated to look up at the tall warrior.

“I love you,” Adora whispered.

“I love you so much,” Catra returned. “I’m going to see you soon, okay?”

She-Ra nodded. “Of course.”

Adora went over to Glimmer, and the Queen instantly threw her arms around her friend. Adora leaned down to return the hug, stroking Glimmer’s short hair. She loved Glimmer as well. They shared a bond that had been formed over years of being in the Alliance. “Please be okay,” Glimmer begged.

“I’m not going to let her get to me that easily. I promise,” Adora replied. She didn’t know if she was going to live through this, but if she was to die tonight, she would die fighting for her friends, and for herself.

Glimmer and Adora separated from the hug, and all three of them shared one last nod. Soon enough, Catra and Glimmer were able to run pass Mara. The former She-Ra did not try to stop them. She had her eyes focused on Adora.

“Mara!” Adora pointed her sword at the one she called a friend. “I am giving you one chance! I don’t want to fight you! Please, lay down your sword!”

It was a slim chance, but Adora held onto a sliver of hope. Perhaps Mara will break free of this trance, she thought. Maybe she can still live a life she wants.

But she knew it was for naught as Mara pulled her sword out of the ground and held it up.

Mara did not return any words. She held her sword firmly in her hand and took a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth. Adora readied herself for an attack, but it wouldn’t come just yet. Mara opened her mouth and spoke.

“For…”

Adora immediately realized what she was trying to do. “Mara, no!” She cried. “Remember what you told me on that ship?! You never wanted to be She-Ra again! I know you don’t want to do this! You know you don’t want to do this! Please, lay down your sword and I won’t hurt you!”

Mara did not respond yet again, but Adora could see that her hands were trembling. She was fighting an internal battle, her teeth grit tight and her face scrunched up into frustration. “For the…” Mara tried to choke out a few more words, but she stopped herself.

Adora shook her head. “Mara… Please…”

Mara looked up at her opponent. She looked into her pleading eyes. She looked into a face of worry. She looked at Adora’s concern, and her hands stopped trembling. Mara took another deep breath.

“For the Honor… of Grayskull.”

A golden aura emanated from her body, but it didn’t take long for Mara to fall to her knees. Her eyes were wide as her body was soon overcome with the transformation. She-Ra’s outfit dug itself into her skin. Tears started flowing down Mara’s cheeks as she transformed.

Adora could only watch in horror as Mara gripped the dirt beneath her, hoping to hold onto something to make the pain go away. She let out grunts of agony, and the occasional scream as her hair started to become long and golden.

Mara’s eyes turned blue, but she wanted it to stop. It was a transformation totally different from before. It wasn’t elegant or beautiful. It was horrifying and painful. Mara felt like her skin was tearing away from her flesh and being replaced by something she didn’t want. It was pain. Pain pain pain pain pain pain pain.

After a few seconds, the transformation stopped, and Mara was left a panting mess on the floor. She had transformed, but Adora’s eyes remained wide in terror. More than anything, she wanted to free Mara from this prison of She-Ra. Soon enough, Adora heard Mara begin to cry.

“Mara…” Adora spoke softly, taking a few steps towards her opponent to comfort her. Heaving sobs came from Mara’s lungs as she held onto her sword, the only thing keeping her from completely collapsing. “It’s okay… We don’t have to fight…”

“Stay back!” Mara suddenly screamed, swinging her sword wildly at Adora. She barely managed to dodge by jumping away as Mara pushed herself up, standing on her feet. Her eyes were stinging red and tears were still streaming. Her skin felt like it was burning, and the sword felt heavy in her hands.

“Adora…” Mara choked out. She put a hand to her head, shaking it rapidly, trying to fight off her own will. “Kill… Adora… I have to… Adora…”

Adora saw Mara’s eyes turn from pained, to sadness, to anger, to bloodlust. She looked at Adora with a rage that she had never felt in her entire life. “Adora… I have to… I have to kill you! I HAVE TO KILL ADORA!” Mara screamed, and she charged forward.

Adora brought her sword up, and the two swords of the two She-Ra’s clashed, sending a shockwave that nearly crumbled the trees around them. Mara glared at her opponent, but Adora’s eyes were filled with sadness.

She only hoped she could make this fight as painless as possible.

* * *

Glimmer could hear the sounds of swords clashing as she and Catra ran towards the upper room where Felinia was.

She knew there was nothing she could do to help Adora, but the idea of Mara winning made her sick to her stomach. That hug could’ve been the last one they ever shared. She wanted to go back, but she knew that was impossible now.

She had one other thing to worry about. She frantically looked into every room as she ran, expecting an ambush at any second. Her heart was racing from the anticipation of a fight as they rounded a corner.

And then, it came.

“Watch out!” Glimmer suddenly yelled, putting up a shield just as a magical blast neared her and Catra. A large amount of dust exploded upon the impact. “Catra, keep going! I’ll hold her off!” Glimmer commanded, already knowing who threw that blast.

“Are you sure?!” Catra asked.

“Just hurry!” Glimmer snapped back, not wanting to promise anything. She knew there was no guarantees to whatever came next. She was prepared for whatever would happen, even if it was her own death at the hands of her mother.

Catra backed away as another blast came, hitting Glimmer’s weak shield and shattering it. Glimmer stumbled back from the blast, and looked up just in time to see a figure flying directly towards her.

Angella’s hand smashed against Glimmer’s throat, holding her up as Glimmer felt the air leave her lungs almost instantly. She looked down at her mother’s eyes to see that there was still no light. No hope. Nothing. Just a longing for blood. She struggled and kicked as Angella held her up.

Eventually, Angella threw Glimmer away, smashing her through a wall. The pain from the impact shot through Glimmer’s system like a thousand needles stabbing into her at once, and she could barely breathe in. It felt like a strong arm had wrapped around her ribs and squeezed tight, preventing her from taking in even a single breath.

She soon realized she was in the throne room. The large Moonstone just outside, giving her enough power to finally suck in some air as she tried to find her way back on her feet. “Mom… Angella…” Glimmer coughed as she stood up, looking at the menacing figure before her. “Please… Don’t do this…”

Angella continued walking towards her as Glimmer pleaded. “After everything we’ve been through… All those lessons you taught me when you were alive… I’m your own daughter! Please, don’t start this fight! You said you were proud of me just a few hours ago… Isn’t that still the case?”

A second of hesitation. Glimmer could see Angella stop for only a second. Somewhere in her mind, there was still her loving mother. There was still the woman that raised her and made her into who she was. Angella was still in there somewhere.

But she was lost. She had no control anymore. Felinia had stripped away her consciousness and used her body as a weapon. Glimmer knew that this wasn’t her real mother. This was a clone. A fake. She knew that there was no other choice.

“It’s okay…” Glimmer sighed. “I don’t have to hold back. If the real Angella… If my mom was alive and really here… She’d want me to stop you at any cost.”

Angella quickly raised an arm and fired another blast. Glimmer formed a shield, and yet again, it was broken as she was knocked back. Angella continued to walk forward, firing blast after blast. Glimmer had to keep forming shields, over and over and over and over. Each one was weaker than the last.

The defense she had to put up was slowly crumbling, and Angella knew it. Glimmer slowly buckled to her knees, but when there was a gap between blasts, she stood back up. No matter how many times she fell, no matter how many blasts came her way, no matter how scared she was, Glimmer stood back up.

Angella charged one large blast and threw it at a high speed directly towards Glimmer. It created a large explosion against her shield, shattering it yet again. Glimmer was thankful for the Moonstone, since she would’ve long run out of power without it.

The Queen was on her knees after the heavy blast. Her arms were aching, her legs were shaking, and her heart was racing. Angella looked down on her as she panted, every inch of her body hurting. She gritted her teeth, sucked in a breath, and clenched her fists.

And when the dust settled, Glimmer stood back up.

She was bruised, with cuts across her skin and blood leaking from some of them. Glimmer panted, looking her mother directly in the eye. She felt a large surge of power flow through her veins, mostly in thanks to the Moonstone.

She slowly calmed her shivering body, and took a deep breath. The cuts stung, and the bruises gave her agony, but Glimmer pushed through everything. If nothing else, she fought in defiance of death. She refused to die here.

Angella powered up another shot, and Glimmer stood still. When it fired, Glimmer suddenly vanished and Angella’s eyes widened. She only had half a second to comprehend what just happened before she turned to see Glimmer blasting her point blank with a ball of energy.

For the first time, Glimmer landed a hit.

Angella was knocked back a few feet, rolling against the floor before finding her way back to her feet. She was just surprised she had been blindsided by something she should’ve seen coming. Glimmer stood beneath the throne, and Angella had been knocked outside onto the long walkway towards the Moonstone.

“You know you can’t do this,” Angella shook her head. “You can’t possibly defeat me all by yourself.”

Glimmer looked at the magic ball in her hand. “I know,” she responded, before looking to her mother. “That’s why I’m not.”

Angella felt another presence behind her, and turned to see an arrow flying towards her direction. Bow had fired it from near the forest’s edge, and yet it was still dead on target.

She shot a hand up, grabbing the arrow just before it hit her. Relief was soon overcome with shock as she realized the arrow was flashing red, and before she could throw it away, the tip of the arrow suddenly exploded with smoke, practically blinding Angella.

Glimmer took the chance Bow had given her to charge towards Angella, teleporting rapidly as Angella blindly fired blast after blast in what she thought to be Glimmer’s direction. The Queen managed to charge up another shot, directing it at Angella and striking another hit.

Angella was knocked off the walkway, but quickly recovered as she spread her wings out, flying up. She rained down energy blasts upon Glimmer, keeping an eye on Bow and making sure to move as much as possible to avoid his arrows. Glimmer dodged the blasts, and even used her own magic to punch straight through them, cancelling them out.

Glimmer knew Angella had the advantage with her wings, and she charged up a shot. Quickly, she teleported high and directed an energy blast specifically at one of Angella’s wings. She managed to get a small hit in, chipping off a bit of Angella’s left wing, but it was enough to put Angella’s flying off balance. Quickly, Glimmer teleported back to the ground.

But as Glimmer was distracted by the teleportation to safer ground, Angella took the chance to charge a large amount of magic in between both of her hands. Glimmer looked up just in time to see Angella fire a large, continuous beam directly at her.

This was the same one she used when Glimmer was protecting Bow. The same one that nearly obliterated her. Glimmer quickly put up a shield, but she knew it wouldn’t last.

Bow quickly fired an arrow at Angella, and she used one hand to block it, before returning fire at him. He had to duck behind a tree, and Angella returned to using both hands to try and destroy her own daughter.

Glimmer crumbled onto one knee as the beam quickly began to overwhelm her. Her arms felt like they were going to be ripped out, and her entire body was screaming at her to give up.

But still, Glimmer stood back up.

“I am not you…” Glimmer growled. “I will never be you! I will never live up to you!” Glimmer cried out to her mother.

She looked to Bow. “Because I am not just the next Queen of Bright Moon! I am not just the next Angella! I am Glimmer!” She declared.

She brought back one hand, and charged up a large amount of energy. “And I refuse to go DOWN!” Glimmer screamed, before firing her own energy beam directly at Angella’s.

The two beams clashed, sending ripples through the walkway that put Angella off balance. She quickly had to cancel her own beam to gain balance and not fall off, and Glimmer took the opportunity of the large impact to launch herself towards Angella, charging the most amount of energy she possibly could.

Angella looked up to see Glimmer running towards her direction, and she frantically fired the same beam yet again. Glimmer quickly teleported, and Angella lost track of her. She looked around, and soon noticed the sound of charging energy above her.

“Mom…” Glimmer said. She had teleported above Angella, a large amount of magic stored in her hands. It was only half a second, but as she looked down at her mother, Glimmer said her final words.

“Thank you… for everything.”

Glimmer extended her arms, firing the huge amount of magic down at Angella. It nearly destroyed the walkway, and Glimmer quickly had to teleport away a few seconds after firing as to not get caught in the blast. A massive explosion rang throughout Bright Moon from Glimmer’s attack. It had landed a direct hit on Angella.

Glimmer collapsed on the ground after teleporting, looking at the direction of where Angella was. When the dust from the blast had settled, she saw Angella had fallen.

Angella was down.

Glimmer panted, slowly trying to find her way to her knees. She realized she had teleported to the grassy area below, and soon heard Bow’s footsteps approaching her. “Stay down. You got her,” Bow said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Glimmer turned around to see Bow. He was barely able to stand himself, but he had made his way over to support Glimmer exactly when she needed it. Angella wasn’t moving, but she wasn’t dead either. The blast had rendered her unconscious.

“I got her…” Glimmer spoke with a hoarse voice, letting out a few weak chuckles that turned into coughs. “I really got her…”

Bow smiled down at the injured Glimmer. “Your mom would be so proud of you.”

Angella reached out and took Bow’s hand in her own. She held it close. “I know,” she nodded with a smile. “I’m never going to be like her. And that’s okay. I’ll be my own person. I’ll be my own version of a Queen. And I think she’ll be proud all the same.”

Bow placed a gentle hand on Glimmer’s cheek, and she pressed her forehead against his, taking in the moment. She may not have killed her own mother, but taking her down was enough of an accomplishment on its own. It should give Catra enough time to do what she needs to do with Felinia.

Bow and Glimmer held each other close. Their fight had finished. They were in no state to continue, anyway.

The Queen of Bright Moon was victorious. But more importantly, Glimmer was finally proud of herself.


	14. She-Ra

A clash of beams. A spark of magic. The two She-Ra’s fought outside of Bright Moon.

Mara fired a large beam from her sword at Adora. The latter quickly transformed her sword into a shield, lowering herself onto one knee and taking Mara’s blast with her shield. The blast surrounded Adora, but did not obliterate her. She tensed her strong arms as she held the shield up.

Adora had no idea how long this fight with Mara had been going for. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her arms ached from having to block the fourth beam from Mara now. She could barely get an opportunity to breathe.

Adora wanted this all to end. She never wanted to do this. She wanted Mara to lay down her sword. But until Catra stopped Felinia, there was no feasible way to put down Mara without causing her harm. But just the thought of that was enough to drive Adora mad.

Why should Mara have to suffer for this?

The beam ceased, and Adora finally stood back up. The two She-Ra’s gazed at each other, panting heavily from their fight. Adora’s eyes were tired. Mara still looked enraged, but her movements were becoming slower and slower.

Mara’s She-Ra outfit still clung to her skin. She had to push through the pain of it all, but the outfit caused her agony every time she made a slight movement. Her mind was trying to rip it off and free herself, but she was lost in the darkness.

Adora turned her shield back into a sword, and gritted her teeth. She had to end this now, in the quickest way possible. Memories of their conversation on the ship had to be pushed down in favor of winning this fight.

Adora charged up a beam, and shot it at her opponent. Shot it at the victim of this fight.

Mara’s eyes widened suddenly, and she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the burning magical beam. She quickly rolled against the dirt floor to regain her balance, and charged towards Adora. The current She-Ra cancelled her beam and raised her sword, blocking the oncoming swings from Mara.

The sound of metal hitting metal. The screams of combat that sent shivers up Adora’s spine as Mara ruthlessly sent attack after attack. Adora was still on the defense, looking for an opportunity for a counter.

When Mara swung her sword down from above, Adora dodged to the side. Mara’s sword managed to cut at Adora’s right arm, making a wound that immediately started to leak blood. Adora gasped from the pain, but quickly took the opportunity to thrust a heavy knee into Mara’s stomach.

Instantly, the wind drained from Mara’s lungs as she was sent flying back from the knee. She hit the ground rolling, and tried to bring oxygen back to her lungs. Adora felt a wave of guilt hit as she watched Mara’s body twitch, before finally, she sucked in air. “Stay down! Please!” Adora begged her opponent.

Mara glared up at Adora, and let out a cry of pure and utter rage as she stood back up and swung at Adora. Sword bashed against sword, but this time Mara had the advantage, hitting Adora’s sword with such immense force that Adora lost balance, stumbling backwards.

Mara instantly reached out and grabbed Adora’s long, golden hair, yanking her towards herself and raising her sword, preparing to bring it down and cut off Adora’s head. The current She-Ra had to think fast, and soon enough, she raised her sword and swung it at her own hair.

Adora’s blade cut through her own long strands of her hair, shedding it from herself.

A large clump of Adora’s hair remained in Mara’s hand, but now, Adora’s short hair only went down to the ends of her neck.

Adora took the opportunity of Mara’s shock to charge forward and tackle Mara into the ground. What had turned from a sword fight was now the two She-Ra’s rolling in the dirt, trying to get on top of each other. They both grunted and cried out, their swords almost rendered useless from the short distance between them.

Mara eventually was able to gain the upper hand, mounting Adora as the latter laid on her back. Quickly, Adora raised her sword and attempted to swing it at her opponent, but Mara quickly caught the sharp blade with her own hand.

Blood leaked down Mara’s hand as her palm was sliced, and she attempted to use her own sword to end Adora’s life. Adora frantically shook about and was able to raise a leg, kicking away Mara’s sword.

Mara growled and tightened her grip on Adora’s sword, causing a deep gash in her palm but giving enough of a grip to throw Adora’s sword away. She then placed both hands on Adora’s throat, and pushed tight.

Instantly, Adora felt like her throat was being crushed. She gripped Mara’s wrists, frantically trying to shake her off. Mara fought to stay on top as she choked Adora as tight as she possibly could. Adora noticed that Mara no longer had a look of rage in her eyes.

She was sad.

Mara had tears welled up as she pushed her hands tighter and tighter against Adora’s throat. The current She-Ra pounded a fist against Mara’s chest, but she quickly realized she was losing consciousness, and in turn, her own life.

Adora didn’t want to die. She wanted to see Catra. She wanted to see Glimmer. She wanted to see Bow. But she also wanted to see her own future. She wanted to live, not just for everyone else, but for herself. But that opportunity was fading.

As Adora’s eyes began to roll in the back of her head, she knew that none of it would matter. Mara kept choking her as hard as she could. Adora felt numbness overcome her body. And her vision began to blur and fade back.

And suddenly, a large rumbling shot through the ground.

Mara was knocked off balance, and Adora quickly saw in the distance two magical beams collide into one near the Moonstone. “Glimmer…” Adora tried to speak, but her voice came out in a bare whisper.

But more importantly, she finally felt Mara lose her grip. Adora quickly grabbed Mara by the scruff of her top, and smashed her own forehead against Mara’s nose. The former She-Ra let out a cry, and Adora quickly kicked her off.

Mara fell to the ground, placing both hands over her nose as pain shot throughout her systems. Adora frantically scanned around, and her eyes met with her sword. She grabbed it, and before Mara could stand up, Adora was able to step on her chest, pointing a sword directly at Mara’s throat.

Both She-Ra’s panted, and soon enough, their transformations were gone. They were simply Adora and Mara. And the former had won.

Adora’s body was covered in cuts and bruises. Her hair had been cut to a short length, and she no longer had a ponytail. It was short and frizzled, much like Catra’s.

“I don’t want to die…” Mara suddenly spoke. Her eyes were wide and pleading as she looked up at Adora. “Please. Please spare me. I don’t… I don’t want to go. Not again. I’m begging you.”

Her voice was shaking, and she sounded on the verge of tears. She was panic stricken, and Adora couldn’t help but feel even more miserable as she looked down at her opponent. However, she kept her sword pointed firmly at Mara’s throat, not wanting to give her an advantage for even a second.

“I won’t kill you, Mara,” Adora shook her head. “But your fate… it rests in Felinia’s hands now.”

* * *

Catra neared the room where she had last seen Felinia. The study room near the top of Bright Moon. It was where everything would come to an end, one way or another.

She walked over as the sounds of battle filled the air around her. Clangs of swords and rumbles of magical beams sent shivers down Catra’s spine as she entered the room and found a familiar figure looking out the window.

Felinia noticed Catra enter.

She turned around to face her younger sister, and the first thing Catra noticed was her eyes. Puffed up and red, definitely from crying. They were haunted by dark bags underneath, and she looked more pale than usual. Her body drooped slightly, and Felinia was barely able to stand up straight.

“You look like crap,” Catra said, never one to mince words.

“I’m…” Felinia sighed. “I’m tired, Catra.”

“Tired?”

“Of… all this,” she gestured to the fighting outside.

“Then why don’t you stop them? You’re the one controlling Angella and Mara, aren’t you? If they stop, we stop,” Catra suggested, but Felinia shook her head.

“It’s not that simple. I can’t just… give up,” Felinia sighed.

“Why not?”

“Because I have to save you!” Felinia suddenly yelled, startling Catra slightly. “I never wanted this, Catra. I never wanted Glimmer to fight her own mother… I never wanted Adora to fight her friend… They may be doing horrible, horrible things to you but they clearly have empathy of their own, and I hate that I have to do this to them.”

“They’re not doing anything to me!” Catra cried back. “This idea of me being brainwashed is insane! It’s absolutely insane! You’ve made so many assumptions and for what? To keep some promise from when I was practically an infant? I was happy with having you and them! I loved you and them!”

“I promised our mother that I’d keep you from the Horde and I failed! I promised I’d save you and I failed! I have failed, over and over and over and over and over! I just wanted to do one thing, ONE thing right! I just wanted my sister back!” Felinia cried, tears welling in her eyes. “Why do you keep resisting me?! I have been so lonely for twenty years… TWENTY YEARS! And now I have you, and you’d choose them over me?! It doesn’t make sense! The only answer is that you don’t have free will!”

“Why can’t you just accept that I’m a different person?! Why can’t you accept that, maybe, just maybe, I’m not the monster you think I am?!”

“Because then I would’ve failed again!” Felinia cried. Both sisters looked at each other with a desperate gaze in their eyes. Felinia’s tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at her sister. “I just want my sister back… I just want to free you from this prison…”

“Felinia…” Catra slowly raised a hand towards Felinia. “I’m going to give you… a chance. Stop the fighting. Accept that I have free will. Accept that you were wrong. Understand me. I’ve been in your position. I know what it’s like. You still have time. You can change. I know you can. I am giving you the opportunity to be my sister. I just need you to stop the fighting… and admit that what you did is wrong.”

Felinia looked at her sister. The silence that followed was agonizing. She glanced to the battle of the She-Ra’s outside. To the fight between the Queens of Bright Moon. And then, she looked back to her sister.

An opportunity for forgiveness. Catra’s hand was before her. Felinia looked at it, and took a deep, long breath.

And when she exhaled, she got into a stance. She prepared herself for a fight.

“I’m sorry,” Felinia sighed. “But I made a promise to save you. I won’t allow myself to fall for any tricks. But I promise, I won’t hurt you too bad. I just need to stun you… and get you out of here.”

Catra felt her heart sink.

She lowered her hand slowly, and felt her throat tighten with grief. A fight with her own sister was the last thing she wanted. During the initial betrayal, she was overcome with rage. But now, it had simmered into misery. She could only see herself in Felinia.

It pained her to do so, but eventually, Catra got into a similar fighting stance. The two sisters stared each other down. This was to end it all.

“I won’t…” Catra sighed, and shook her head. “I won’t let you hurt my friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your continued support, everyone! We're nearing the end of this gruelling journey, and the next chapter is where everything comes to a clash!
> 
> I thought I'd just add something: These fight chapters are shorter than others, but it is a deliberate choice I made. They're the climax of each character's arcs, and I wanted them to be swift and, hopefully, impactful. It was my goal to deliver something with as little dialogue as possible. I hope I've been able to accomplish what I set out to do.
> 
> I'm super, super excited to release the next chapter. It'll likely be the shortest in the story, but the most important. Thank you, and have a lovely day :)


	15. Sisters

Their eyes locked, and it was Felinia who made the first move. They ran towards each other and prepared for the end.

The sisters met in the middle and it was Felinia who threw the first hit. A right hook that Catra quickly raised an arm to block. A clash. A strike.

They stared into each other’s eyes. Both of them wanted the other to stop. The two sister’s never wanted to fight.

Felinia immediately went on the aggressive, throwing swings at Catra in an attempt to finish it all quickly. She simply wanted to stun Catra enough in order to get her out as soon as possible. Catra raised her arms to block the few swings from Felinia, noting that she wasn’t lying when she said she had combat experience.

Catra jumped back, gaining some space between them. She circled around Felinia, throwing a kick at her back that Felinia dodged, jumping to the side. This opened up enough room for Felinia to swing her right leg at Catra’s side, landing a heavy first hit.

Catra grunted as she felt the kick. Her lungs felt like they had grown smaller immediately after, and she desperately tried to suck in air as she had to go on the defense again. Felinia tried to finish her as soon as possible after the hit.

Their eyes were always glancing at each other’s. Catra had eyes filled with mourning. She felt a pain in her heart, but she also felt desperate to win. The sooner she could stop this, the sooner she can save her friends and perhaps, even save her sister.

But maybe that chance was already gone? Catra had extended her hand to Felinia, and she was met with resistance. She was met with rejection. Maybe it was already too late for her.

But then again, Adora never gave up on Catra. Should she do the same with Felinia? Or would that just lead to hurt, over and over again?

Catra saw an opportunity as Felinia threw a heavy right jab, and immediately stepped in, swinging her elbow at Felinia’s nose. The crunch she felt almost made her gag, and Felinia stumbled back from the hit, dazed.

Catra had the perfect opportunity to take down Felinia, but her body froze. This was her own sister. This was her family. Felinia had good intentions. Does she deserve to be hurt?

That second of hesitation was all Felinia needed to recover slightly and throw a heavy kick at Catra, sending her flying back and slamming into a wall. Catra felt the wind leave her body as she gasped for air.

Felinia had blood covering her mouth and chin as it oozed down from her nose. She looked down at Catra with misery, hoping that she would stay down. She hoped that Catra would simply give in, and maybe even be freed of this brainwashing.

But Catra stood up, sucking in air and readying again. She was in the fight for her friends, and for herself. Felinia’s heart felt heavy, and the burden of all this weighed on her shoulder. She tensed her fingers, and her claws came out.

Catra returned the gesture, flexing her claws. The claws that were the same length. The claws of the sisters.

Felinia charged in and swiped at Catra, who dodged to the side and swung her hand at Felinia, landing a deep scratch on her arm. Felinia grunted, and swung back, scratching across Catra’s chest. Each mark made by their claws began to bleed, but they pushed through.

Catra felt cut after cut mark on her body, and every time she was slashed, she returned the same to Felinia. Blood covered their hands and claws as they wildly swung at each other, their cries growing more desperate and raw as they screamed at each other to go down.

They were holding hands on a field not too long ago. They were bonding over space and superheroes not too long ago. They were sisters not too long ago.

Both of their eyes were filled with sadness and despair.

Catra dodged a swung, and wrapped her arms around Felinia’s waist, ramming her into a wall. She took the opportunity to extend her claws and stab them into Felinia’s side.

Her sister cried out in agony. Blood began to seep from the stab wound Catra made, but she simply pushed in deeper. The tears on her cheeks mixed with the blood of the cuts as she heard Felinia scream.

Felinia felt a burning sensation in her stomach from the stab wound made by Catra’s claws. She felt so much pain. Not from the cuts, and not just from the stab wounds, but from all this. From this pointless fight.

Felinia raised an arm and elbowed Catra on the top of her head, stunning her and giving Felinia a chance to kick Catra back slightly. As Catra tried to recover from the blurry vision and ringing sound in her ears, Felinia immediately swung a leg and made a hit on Catra’s neck.

Catra’s body struck into the wall besides her, and let out a gasp of pain. Felinia backed off for a bit and watched as Catra’s eyes became dazed. Eventually, Catra crumbled to her knees and fell face first onto the floor from the multiple hits.

Felinia looked down at her unconscious sister. She put a hand over her side, grunting as she felt the stab wound. Felinia raised her shirt a bit, seeing five distinct small holes, each from Catra’s claws. She sighed, lowering her shirt down and wincing a bit.

“I’m sorry…” Felinia whimpered down at her unconscious sister. “I never wanted to do this… I never want to do this again…”

She knelt down to pick Catra up. She wondered if she should call off the fighting from outside. But then again, did those monsters deserve forgiveness for what they did to Catra? Were they even monsters in the first place?

Felinia began to ponder Catra’s words. She heard the cries of Adora and Mara’s battle. The rumbling of Glimmer and Angella’s. They were all fighting for themselves, no doubt, but she also remembered that when Catra entered this room not too long ago, she was unharmed.

They fought to protect Catra, so she could have a chance to make it to her sister.

Felinia shook her head. It was a ridiculous thought. After everything that had happened, she wasn’t backtracking now. She can’t. She’d have no idea what she’d do if she failed this tremendously. If she caused more needless suffering to her sister…

As she reached out to pick up Catra, she suddenly saw her sister’s eyes open.

In less than a second, Catra moved her body around and swung a leg from her position, striking Felinia square in the jaw. Felinia immediately felt a ringing come to her ears as she fell backwards, and Catra quickly took a chance to jump on Felinia.

She landed a knee into Felinia’s gut, and grabbed her sister by her shirt, extending her claws and pointing them at Felinia’s throat.

Catra had gotten into a position that Felinia couldn’t break. She was on top of her, and Felinia was flat on her back. She had gained the advantage. She had won. Catra triumphed over her sister, but she didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment.

Just relief.

“I thought you were…” Felinia croaked.

“Knocked out? I’ve taken worser hits in my life,” Catra replied.

“You… you deceived me…” Felinia shook her head.

“Yeah,” Catra shrugged. “I’ve been told I’m pretty good at that.”


	16. Stars

Felinia knew she had been beaten, both physically and mentally.

She looked up at her younger sister, her claws pointed at her throat. Catra panted, exhausted from the fight and the amount of violence they had to endure onto each other. The stab wound in Felinia’s side was starting to set in, and it felt like lava was being constantly poured on the wound.

But it didn’t hurt as much as the realization that Felinia just had.

She looked into Catra’s eyes. She saw the tears and the desperation. She saw how physically exhausted she was, and even still, after being covered in scratches and bruises, she was still fighting for her friends. The ones who were meant to be monsters.

It was now that Felinia realized she was the real monster.

She had trouble accepting it. Even still, the back of her mind screamed at her that she had done what was necessary to save her sister. But Catra’s eyes told a different story. Catra’s eyes were full of the trauma and suffering she had endured, and how desperate she was to claim happiness in her life. And she had found it.

Felinia had tried to ruin that happiness.

The immeasurable guilt that weighed in Felinia’s stomach nearly brought tears to her eyes. Again, she thought. Again, she had brought suffering and misery on her sister. Again, she had failed to keep her promise. Again, she had failed their mother.

Again, she failed. She failed. She failed. She failed. She failed.

She caused pain to herself. She caused pain to Catra. She caused pain to her friends. She caused pain to everyone, again and again and again. Slowly, Felinia put her hands up in an act of surrender, and Catra slowly retracted her claws.

“You going to try and pull a fast one on me?” Catra asked her sister. Felinia felt her throat tighten as she shook her head.

“No,” she shook her head, “I’m nowhere near as brilliant as you. I… I’m a complete monster.”

“Felinia…?” Catra slowly let Felinia go as she stood up.

“The fighting has stopped outside… Mara and Angella should no longer be of any harm. I… I realize now what I’ve done to you,” Felinia looked up with tearful eyes. “I’ve failed you again. I’ve caused you misery when you had found happiness. This whole brainwashing thing… I thought I believed it, but… I think it was just me unconsciously wanting my sister back. It was my selfish desire for company.”

Catra looked down at Felinia, and let out a sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with being selfish every now and then. I get it, Felinia. But just because I love my friends doesn’t mean I won’t love you. Love isn’t some limited resource we need to scrounge up and steal from others. Love is given everywhere. It’s infinite. And my love for you… it’s going to take some time to heal, but I know it will.”

Felinia slowly stood up, and immediately winced at the pain in her side. “Hey, hey, sit down. You’re bleeding a lot,” Catra frantically spoke, putting a hand on Felinia’s shoulder. However, the older sister simply brushed her off.

“It’s fine,” Felinia shook her head, though the way she was constantly doubled over and the deep red stain on her shirt spoke otherwise. “You say… it’s okay to be selfish every now and then, right?”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s not the most popular opinion, but… you’ve got to put yourself first once in a while if you want to stay healthy and… well, sane,” Catra spoke. “Obviously, not all the time… but still.”

Felinia glanced at the floor as she pondered this. She held onto her wound tighter, and sighed. “All my life… I’ve chosen for you, Catra. You have come first in everything I did. You were the most important thing in my life,” Felinia admitted, before she looked up at her sister. “This time… I’m going to choose for myself. I’m going to be selfish.”

Catra nodded, and Felinia returned the gesture. Slowly, they exited the top room and climbed down to the bottom floor of Bright Moon. Catra had to help her sister down the stairs as the wound caused her a great deal of pain. “We can get Adora to fix that up,” Catra offered.

“No… That won’t be necessary,” Felinia shook her head.

Once they reached the outside of Bright Moon, they saw Adora, Bow and Glimmer gathered together. Glimmer was barely able to stand, but she was smiling nonetheless. Catra noticed Adora’s short hair and felt a sudden shock at the sight. Her girlfriend turned to her and her eyes widened. “Catra!” Adora gasped, running over to her.

Felinia went off towards another direction. Towards Angella and Mara, who were off in their own group. “Catra, is everything alright? You and Felinia…” Adora wondered.

“We… we had to fight. But… I think Felinia’s changed her mind about things,” Catra explained as Adora placed her hands gently on her girlfriend, using what remained of her She-Ra power to heal the scars on Catra’s body. “When did you get a haircut?”

“During my fight with Mara,” Adora said. “It’s ugly, I know.”

“Actually… I kind of like it,” Catra smiled, running her hands through Adora’s short, blonde hair. “It’s like you’re copying my style.”

Adora chuckled as Bow and Glimmer limped over them. “I’m guessing from the fact that you’re still here, that we won?” Glimmer asked.

“I… I guess,” Catra shrugged. “I more see it as… we just got it to stop. All of it. Felinia… I think she’s going to take some time for herself. I beat her pretty bad… I feel like crap,” Catra sighed, hanging her head.

“You did what you had to. You saved all of us,” Bow beamed. “You’re amazing, Catra.”

Catra looked up at her friends with a weak smile. “I… I don’t feel amazing, if I’m honest.”

They watched as Felinia said her final words to Mara and Angella. To their confusion, Mara went over to Catra whilst Angella walked away towards the forest. Catra watched as Mara eventually placed a hand on her shoulder. She noticed that Mara’s grip was firm for some reason.

Felinia stood alone as Mara held onto Catra and Angella stood by the edge of the Whispering Woods. She looked to her sister, and gave a soft smile. Catra returned with a bizarre look, her eyes narrowed with confusion.

“I have lived with this curse for twenty years now,” Felinia declared loudly. “I have read countless books. I have studied to the ends of Etheria. I have done everything in my power. And yet… I have found no explanation. No cure. Nothing.”

Felinia reached her hand out to the stars. “This curse… It’s not of this world. And I likely will never find a cure for it. No matter what I do…” Felinia sighed. “I can’t make the pain go away. The pain I cause others… and the pain I cause myself.”

Catra stepped towards Felinia in attempt to comfort her, but she was stopped by Mara’s firm grip on her shoulder. “So… there’s only one thing I can do. So that this curse will no longer cause suffering to everyone around me. So that you don’t have to kill those who are already lost all over again. So that Adora doesn’t have to kill her other self. So that Glimmer doesn’t have to kill her own mother.”

“Felinia, what are you doing?” Catra asked loudly, but she was ignored.

The uneasy feeling that haunted everyone grew deeper and deeper. Their stomachs felt like they were crawling, and their anxiety shot through their chests. Catra swallowed nervously, wondering if she should scream or not.

Felinia clasps her hand into a fist. “I choose for myself!” She declared. “I choose to no longer have this curse rule over me! I choose to no longer hurt myself or anyone else around me! I choose to accept that the dead are gone and we can’t bring them back!”

Catra’s eyes widened. “No… No, Felinia, don’t!” Catra struggled, breaking free of Mara’s grip and running towards her sister. “We can figure this out! Don’t do this!”

Felinia looked to her sister’s panicked eyes. She took in everything about her sister. Her bravery. Her love. Her wit. Everything about Catra would’ve made their mother proud, and to that, Felinia smiled. She looked to her sister. One last time.

“I choose to be… a superhero.”

Everyone watched as Angella raised a hand towards Felinia. Catra reached out for her sister. If anything, she needed to push her out of the way. She needed to save her. She needed to do something.

But the time had passed.

Angella fired a beam, and it immediately pierced Felinia straight through the chest.

Catra stumbled, her eyes wide with tears as the magical blast went straight through her own sister. Glimmer gasped and Bow felt his whole body immediately become paralyzed. Adora sprinted towards Felinia, panicked to save her and Catra from whatever harm may come.

Catra still had a hand outstretched as the magical beam ceased, and Angella lowered her hand. A gaping, burning hole remained in Felinia’s chest as her whole body soon started to feel cold. She stumbled, and then crumbled to her knees.

Before she could fall forward, Catra suddenly got onto her knees and caught her. She wrapped her arms around her sister, hugging her tight as if she was trying to save her. Catra could barely find the words to say.

Adora immediately got on her knees before Felinia and put her hands on her body in attempt to heal her. “No…” Felinia croaked, using whatever remained of her energy to choke out any words she could. “I… chose this…”

Catra looked frantically to Adora and waited for her to do something. Adora felt tears welled in her eyes as she tried to heal Felinia, and Catra waited for that golden glow. She waited for everything to be fixed. She held onto Felinia and waited for her sister to return the hug.

But eventually, Adora shook her head. “It’s… It’s too great a wound… I don’t think I have enough power to fix this…”

“No…” Catra whimpered. “You have to do something… Anything…”

“I’m so sorry, Catra… I…” Adora gritted her teeth and let out a few agonizing sobs, feeling her heart be crushed with guilt. “I’m so sorry…”

“Without me…” Felinia took in a choked, hoarse breath. “There’s nothing to tie the clones… to this world…”

“I… I never wanted you to do this… I…” Catra whispered. “Why…?”

“I told you…” Felinia coughed a bit of blood as she chuckled. “I was going to be selfish…”

Catra held Felinia closer, trying to hold back tears as desperately as she could. She could feel Felinia’s blood seeping onto her chest.

“Hey… Catra…?” Felinia croaked. “We’re… going to go to the stars together… right?”

Catra nodded. “Yeah… I promise…”

A few seconds of silence followed. Catra held Felinia, but after a while, she could no longer hear Felinia’s breaths. “Felinia…?” Catra whispered.

It was then that she realized her sister was no longer responding.

Catra shook her sister a bit. “Felinia…?” She asked for any response, but none came. “Felinia…” Catra choked out, but she soon realized that she could barely get any words out as her lips wobbled and her face scrunched up. She let out a sob and buried her face into Felinia’s shoulder, her chest heaving with grief.

Adora felt a hand on her arm, and turned to see, through tearful eyes, Mara’s hand reached down to her. Adora slowly took Mara’s hand in her own, and watched as Mara’s body slowly began to crumble into ashes. Adora stroked Mara’s palm with her thumb as she faded.

Mara’s body shook with fear as she left this world once again.

Glimmer watched Angella approach her, and she stepped towards her mother. She looked up at her, and Angella gave a gentle smile as she stroked a hand over Glimmer’s hair, rubbing it gently and comforting her daughter.

Glimmer felt her mother’s touch fade, along with her body.

The only sounds that were on the field outside of Bright Moon was Catra’s pained sobs of grief. She held onto Felinia’s lifeless body as Adora rubbed a hand over her back, trying to comfort her in any way she could. Bow approached Glimmer, and she held onto his arm as she let silent tears gently roll down her cheeks.

The world slowly began to light up as a new day emerged. The morning glow basked the world in light, but none of them could notice it. The battle had been won, but none of them felt victorious. Their happiness could not come to them.

Felinia had passed from this world.

* * *

Catra looked down at the casket beneath her. All that surrounded them was the stars and space. Everything that Felinia ever wanted.

She had used Darla’s autopilot to get into the vast deepness of space, just outside Etheria. It was only her and Felinia. Darla had a feature to send out items into space, and if there was one place Felinia always wanted to be, it was out here.

It had been a few days since their fight. A few days since Catra lost her own sister and had sunken into grief. And yet, despite all this, she hasn’t resorted to shutting herself off from the world. She often told Adora about her grief, and often asked for consolidation. It made her uncomfortable to do sometimes, and yet, she realized it’s what Felinia would’ve wanted.

Once they were far enough away, Catra left the pilot seat and went into the room where the casket was placed. Inside there was her sister, who was finally at peace. No longer haunted by a curse.

“Hey sis,” Catra spoke softly, placing a gentle hand on the wooden casket. “I kept my promise. We’re here. The stars are all around us. It’s… it’s really beautiful,” Catra spoke with a gentle smile as she looked out to space.

She received no response.

“You know…” Catra sighed. “I was really starting to become glad that I had a sister. At first, I treated you like crap. I rejected you, and I always doubted you. But… I was starting to realize just how much you cared about me. Even if you were misguided, you really loved me. I knew we had a chance together, despite everything…”

Catra let out a shuddered breath. “I love you, Felinia. I still do. But… now I can’t show that love to you. I can’t… give you what you needed. I knew how you felt. I knew the despair you were in. I even wanted the same fate as you so many times. I just wanted to… end it all. But… you deserved so much better than this… You deserved a life too… You deserved so much happiness… And I should’ve been more accepting earlier. Maybe none of this would’ve happened…”

Catra took a second to try and smother the self-doubt and guilt that was crashing in. “I just… I wish you gave yourself a chance… I wish you were still here… And I don’t know if that’s selfish of me or not. But… Now it’s too late.”

Catra realized that tears were dripping down onto the casket, and she wiped her eyes clean. “You deserved the same chances I had at happiness… And I’m sorry we didn’t give them to you sooner…”

She slowly took her hand away from the casket. Once she left this room, she’d have to send the casket out into the vast depths of space. She’d likely never find it again. This was their last time together. Their last moment as sisters.

“I’ll… I’ll live for you, Felinia. For you and mom. I’ll live my life to the fullest… I’ll make sure of it. I’ll never forget you. You’ve given me so much… and I just wish I could do the same for you,” Catra sighed. Slowly, she took a step back towards the door. She must’ve looked at that casket for hours. But she knew she had to leave it behind now, or forever be stuck in this grief.

She spoke her last words to Felinia.

“I’ll miss you.”

Catra closed the door after she spoke her final words, and she pressed a button to the side of the door. The wall opened up in the room, sending the casket out into space. Catra went over to the window from the pilot’s seat, and watched as Felinia slowly drifted into space.

It was a beautiful scene. The many moons of Etheria shined upon the casket, and the stars awaited her. Felinia would be welcome on those stars, no doubt. Maybe she’d have trouble initiating a conversation, but once they got to know her, they’d accept her.

Felinia was in the stars. Like she always wanted to be. Like she always dreamed of. Her and her mother were together now.

And Catra would live on for the both of them.


	17. Epilogue

Catra adjusted her red suit jacket as she walked through the dark space of the dance room.

The suit she had worn to the Princess Prom all those years ago still fit to this day. Though, it was actually a tad too big for her now. She had realized when she tried it on earlier today that she lost weight.

As slow music played, she suddenly felt a spotlight shine upon her. She winced at the bright light, but soon saw that someone was approaching her for the slow dance. She gave a gentle smile and approached the person in front of her.

“Hey Adora.”

Her girlfriend wore a different dress to this Princess Prom. It was white, with sparkles of gold strewn throughout. It flowed against the floor as she smiled at Catra. They raised an arm, each of them joining together at the elbow as they circled around each other.

Adora’s hair had become a bit neater, but it still was quite short. Only a little bit longer than Catra’s, and smooth to touch. The change was a bit bizarre for some people, and Adora herself had admitted she couldn’t wait for her hair to grow back.

But until then, Catra could get used to this short length.

“I’m proud of you for making it out here,” Adora spoke gently as she wrapped an arm around Catra, using her other hand to hold Catra’s and interlock their fingers. “Everyone was wondering if you were going to show up to this Princess Prom at all.”

Catra sighed. “I wish they didn’t all worry about me constantly. It makes me feel like crap,” she admitted as she held Adora close and danced with her.

“You’ve been through a lot recently, Catra. They all care about you. It’s just natural for them,” Adora explained. “I can tell them you’re okay, if you want?”

“It’s… it’s fine. Really,” Catra shook her head. “I just want to focus on… this. Us. Together. I never thought I’d see you again after I left you to fight Mara.”

“I fought so hard to live because I was afraid too. I was afraid of losing you,” Adora admitted as she pushed her forehead against Catra’s. “But… I think I also fought for myself. I fought because I wanted to live. I still had a future and I didn’t want it to be taken away.”

Catra smiled, bringing a gentle hand up to Adora’s cheek. “So you were selfish for a bit. Good.”

“When I fight for everyone… That includes myself. I’m still struggling with it, but…”

“You’re doing amazing, Adora. That balance with caring about yourself and others at the same time… I struggled with it too. But we have each other. And we have all the time in the world,” Catra spoke gently as she looked into her girlfriend’s eyes. “I love you so much.”

Adora returned the words with a simple kiss. Their last Princess Prom ended in disaster and defeat, but this time, they had changed. This time, even with feelings of sorrow in their hearts, they had each other. They shared a kiss and loved each other.

“Hey…” Catra spoke as she separated from the kiss. “I forgot to ask. How’s Glimmer doing recently? I mean… I haven’t seen her much after the whole situation. She lost her mother again, so…”

“Well…” Adora gave a soft smile. “Knowing Glimmer, I think she’ll be as strong as she’s always been.”

* * *

A throne fit for a Queen, and yet Glimmer hasn’t felt like one ever since she first lost her mother.

She looked up at the grand seat. The light shining through the window behind it almost made it blinding to look at. She had visions of her mother sitting there, sometimes scolding her or other times, comforting her. Memories she wished she could live through all over again.

“You okay?” She heard Bow ask. She had invited him along to make sure she actually sits on the throne this time. It was promise she had made to herself after she watched her mother fade away, and yet every time she went to do it, something held her back. She wasn’t sure what.

“Yeah… It’s just…” Glimmer took a breath. “I don’t know. Even after everything that’s happened… I can’t climb those steps.”

“Do you think it’s what Angella would’ve wanted?” Bow asked. He did not talk down to her or pressure her. Instead, he simply wanted her to come to her own conclusion. Whatever she may choose is in her own right to do so.

“I think…” Glimmer looked up at the throne. “I think the words my mother spoke… even as a clone… I think she would’ve meant those if she were still here. I think she’d be proud of me. No matter what. Some throne doesn’t get to dictate whether I am a Queen or not. A seat should not define a person.”

“You know… I think I agree with that,” Bow smiled at her. She returned the look, reaching out to hold his hand.

“What mom had was a legacy. She created a kingdom unlike any other, and she raised me like no one else could. I can never replace her. I can never live up to her. And that’s okay,” Glimmer decided. “The idea of having to live up to someone… To fill their shoes… I think it’s dehumanizing. And I think she’d agree with that. I am not going to be another Queen Angella. No one will ever be another Queen Angella.”

She took a breath. “But no one will ever be another Queen Glimmer as well. That… is my role.”

Bow smiled at his girlfriend as she leaned her head on his arm, holding him close. “I think I’ll keep the throne there. In honor of one of the greatest Queens of Etheria. Even if she made mistakes… They will never outweigh what she’s done for the planet. What she’s done… for me.”

Glimmer had to hold back tears as she gripped Bow’s hand tighter. “I’m going to miss her… But… I will not let myself be weighed down by the burden of her acts. And either way… I think she’ll be proud of me… Because I know I’m proud of myself.”

Bow turned to face Glimmer as she wiped tears away from her eyes and looked up at him. “All I ask is that you stay with me by my side, Bow. You are my shoulder to lean on. The one I can trust. The one I love,” Glimmer spoke gently.

“I promise,” he returned. “I mean… Where else am I going to go?”

“Good point,” she chuckled. She felt Bow’s warm hand on her cheek, and leaned up, pressing her lips to his. As the light from outside pierced into the room and shined upon them, they shared their love for each other. Gentle and tender.

She will never live up to the name of Queen Angella.

But she has already lived up to the name of Queen Glimmer.

* * *

The woods around the old wooden hut were beautiful to walk through.

The old hut had been overgrown with weeds and plants and was beyond any repair. No one had lived in it for over twenty years, anyway. It served as a nice sight to look at, and a reminder of the power of nature.

Catra walked pass the house and towards a small tree placed just outside the hut. It was a grave.

She had been hesitating to go for a while now. Felinia and her planned to visit before everything went to crap, and now she had to keep that promise, much like how she gave Felinia to the stars to keep their promise of travelling to space together. She didn’t bring anything to lay at the grave, but she made a note to do that the next time she could.

She looked down at the grave, and let out a sigh.

“Hey… mom.”

She looked down at her mother’s grave and put her hands in her pockets. “It’s… been a while. Last time you saw me, I couldn’t even walk,” Catra chuckled. “Happy to report I’ve learned how to do that now.”

She looked around at the forest surrounding her. The beautiful trees and soft grass. “It’s a nice place Felinia picked for you here. She always had an eye for beauty in the world. Heck, even out of this world. I think she just liked to stop and smell the flowers every now and then.”

She looked down at the grave. “I’m sorry for never visiting. I’m… sorry for the years I spent betraying everything you believed in. I have no idea if you’d still be proud of me or not, but… I’m going to work hard to make up for all of that.”

She took a seat by the grave. “A lot of things have happened recently, mom. I’m sure you already know… But… Felinia… She…” Catra tried to get the words out, by found they caught in her throat. She sniffled for a bit. “She really loved me. So… don’t be too harsh on her when you see her.”

She looked down at her hands. “I just… I just wish she was still here, mom. I wish we could be visiting you together. I wish…” Catra felt a tear roll down her cheek. “I wish she didn’t have to go… I wish you didn’t have to go…”

Catra put a hand over her mouth to stop whatever sobs may come. She took a few deep breaths, and looked up to the sky. She looked at the stars. “You know… It might take a while for you to run into Felinia anyway. She’d probably be distracted by all the stars out there… Oh, and she’ll want you to read her a story about superheroes, no doubt.”

She looked back at the grave. “I made the same promise to her, but… I’m going to live on for you two. I have a family at Bright Moon… I think you’d love them. I know they’d love you. They helped in defeating the Horde, after all. And they accept me for who I am.”

She placed a hand on the dirt beneath her. “I know we haven’t talked in a while… and I know this is a bit late but… I love you, mom. Thank you for giving me a life… I can’t change the past, but I can do everything I can to move forward and make you proud.”

She stood back up. “Oh, and I promise I’ll bring my girlfriend along next time. Meeting parents is supposed to be awkward, but… Eh, I’m sure you’ll like her. She’s pretty hard to hate. Trust me, I tried for years.”

Catra took a breath. “Well… I’ll see you later, mom. Um… thank you.”

She thought that’d be awkward than it actually was. Speaking to her mom was actually nice, all things considered. She wondered what her voice sounded like. She wondered if her mother would be proud of her.

Catra took one last look at her old home. The place she was stuck in for the early years of her life. The place she and Felinia grew up in. She could barely remember it, but she knew it held a large amount of importance in her life.

Although it was crumbled and ruined, it would never be forgotten.

* * *

Catra stood in a pool of darkness.

It was a familiar sight. The location of all of her nightmares. She knew that when she saw that darkness, all that awaited her was horror.

All the other times she’s been here, she’s been faced with corpses. Blood. Bodies. Guilt. Everything felt sick and disgusting in this place. And she hadn’t been here for a while either. All of her dreams recently had been hazy.

She walked through the place of her nightmares. She knew she was in a dream. She just didn’t know how it would all end.

As she walked, she looked down at her own feet. It was almost an attempt to not look up and see the nightmares before her. Whatever there may be, as long as she looked down, she wouldn’t see it.

But then, she wouldn’t be facing it. She felt like a coward. But who could blame her?

Ultimately, as Catra walked, she let out a sigh. She knew she wouldn’t be able to ignore the terror that awaited her forever. Whatever there may be, she had to face it head on. And so, she looked up.

And she was met with Adora’s beautiful face smiling at her.

Catra’s eyes widened and she took a step back, slightly shocked by simply seeing Adora. In her dreams, she was used to see Adora tortured or even dead. But this time was different. She was smiling, alive, and happy to see her girlfriend.

Catra looked around to see other figures. Glimmer, Bow, Scorpia, Entrapta… All of them alive and either smiling at her, or talking to each other. It wasn’t even a creepy smile. Just one of bliss. Like they were just happy to be alive in the first place.

Catra kept walking, and they all followed behind her. She wondered why. But soon, she realized they were following her to the exit of this pool of darkness. Just ahead was a bright, beaming light.

It was the first time she had ever seen light in her dreams. It was… a gateway. A way of leaving behind this darkness. This was the first time she was able to escape, so of course she started to run. She reached out a hand, and felt her hand basking in the warmth of the light.

And behind her, everyone else was running too. They escaped through the light, into a land of joy and life. They escaped from this dark place.

But as Catra approached the light, she slowed down. Everyone else ran ahead of her, but she stopped. Slowly, she turned around to see the one person who would not leave this darkness.

Felinia.

Her sister stood amongst the pool of darkness. She watched everyone else run ahead of her, but she knew that escape was not meant for her. Not yet.

Catra slowly walked back into the darkness towards Felinia. They exchanged no words, but their eyes told the story. Felinia looked to her sister apologetically. She never meant to cause pain for Catra. She never did what she did out of spite for others.

She simply wanted the pain to stop.

Catra looked at her sister. She understood that pain deeply.

She felt her lips begin to wobble, and before she cried, she threw her arms around Felinia and held her sister close. Felinia’s eyes went wide for a bit at the hug, but eventually, she too began to cry as she returned the hug she wanted from her sister for so long.

They held each other and they cried together. Catra never wanted to let go, and Felinia simply wanted to feel this hug forever. She always wanted this.

Catra knew she wouldn’t be able to see Felinia for a long time. Wherever she ended up after passing from this world, it was going to be a while before Catra joined her. But Felinia wouldn’t be alone. She’d be with her mother until then. And they’d be waiting for Catra, no matter how long it takes.

And eventually, Catra will be able to take Felinia’s hand, and lead her into that bright light. The light she needed in her lifetime.

Slowly, Catra separated from the hug and looked at her sister. They held hands, and shared one more moment together. They simply let the tears roll as they looked to each other. Catra and Felinia. Sisters who suffered but were together in their last moments.

Felinia let Catra go, and let her wonder towards the light. It was hard to do. Catra never wanted to leave Felinia behind, but she knew she had a promise to keep. She had to live on for her. She had to be happy for her. She had to love for her. She had to let go of the ones she lost, but never let them go from her memory. And she would never forget her sister.

Catra wandered into the light and was able to smile amidst it all. Even with the heaviness in her heart, she still had the beauty of life before her. She had to reach out and take it.

Catra slept peacefully that night.

* * *

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we reach the end of another journey.
> 
> Whew. This was a tough one to do. It was so tonally different to my last story, 'Droplets'. And I don't think I'll ever quite write something like this ever again. What an angst-fest.
> 
> But despite all that, I have never been more proud of a story than I am with this one.
> 
> I'd like to thank each and every one of you for following this story throughout the last month. It has been a wild ride, and your comments fill me with joy. I still get that insane anxiety when posting a chapter, but your words mean so much. Each and every comment, kudos, bookmark... They keep me going :) 
> 
> I'm already in plans for a story for NaNoWriMo. It will definitely be a fluffier piece than this, whilst still hopefully carrying the same weight in messages and morality. I hope you may join me for that one too. 
> 
> Nonetheless. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I take pride in each and every one of my stories, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart.
> 
> And I think you'd all make Felinia very happy too.


End file.
